The decision is now final. You’ve accepted the promotion and narrowed down the list of potential new homes, and you’ll be moving soon. Now comes the hardest part — planning the move, hiring the right affordable movers, and telling the kids. Whether moving out of state or just around the block, kids typically aren’t thrilled by such an event. In fact, they rarely relish the change of this magnitude. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to ease the transition. Your attitude about moving and your willingness to let your children share in the experience will influence their feelings.
Moving is an exhilarating moment in anyone’s life. However, it is full of hardships. Especially if you are moving with children. As professional local movers, we know that locating with kids can be tricky. Parents know that tackling chores with the kids in tow is difficult. There are so many things you have to think about and so little time. You also need to pay attention to your kids and not disregard them while only thinking about your move and which affordable movers you should hire. That is why we are here- Denver movers! We have created this article with one aim only. To help you! So, moving with kids, what do you need to know? There are a couple of things you need to take care of if you want your move to be successful. Some of these things are hiring affordable movers-Denver movers, creating a moving checklist and inventory, packing your stuff, and reducing the amount of stuff you want to move.
We know that moving with kids is a big transition for any family — leaving an old home for a new home, saying goodbye to friends, and disrupting your children’s regular routine. The best way to minimize the stress of moving with kids is to look for possible stressors and make a plan for how to address them. While you can’t totally eliminate the challenge of moving with kids, some tips can help ease the process. Here are our top tips for helping kids ease into the upcoming move.
- Hiring affordable movers
This is definitely the most important step in the moving process. You need to find good and reliable local movers, especially when moving with kids. The best way to find affordable movers is to ask your friends and family. If you know someone who has moved recently, ask them about their moving company and their experience with their packers and movers. If they do not know any affordable movers, don’t worry! Denver movers are here to make your upcoming relocation with kids as easy as possible!
On moving day, you’ll likely be bogged down with the logistics of coordinating with your local movers and packing up the kitchen, which can leave your children feeling overlooked in the moving process. There are several moving companies out there that have created special measures to make sure the kids are taken care of on moving day. Look around on the moving company’s website or blog, and see if they have special offers or services directed toward children. Some local movers even pay for childcare or doggy day-care services on moving day. Other packers and movers have invented creative ways to engage the kids on moving day, like providing a kid’s kit (think: coloring book and drawings) that they can work on during the move. If you choose Denver movers we are sure you will be satisfied with our service!
- Give yourself plenty of time
If you moved before, how long did your last move without children take? Well, for every one of your young children, you need to double the amount of time you devoted to packing and preparing for your last move. If it now takes twice as long to get out the door than before you had kids, believe me, it will take twice as long to pack up your house, no matter how small it is. The biggest mistake parents make when relocating with kids is not giving themselves enough time, and not hiring professional local movers. Think about how much stuff your kids have – toys, clothes, books, and more toys. Then, think about how much assistance they provide. The answers don’t quite add up, do they?! So, give yourself plenty of time to avoid any unnecessary stress. Besides, think about hiring professional packers and movers, they will take the stress away from the moving process!
- Involve your kids in the moving process
Between finding a new home, packing, and coordinating with your local affordable movers, it’s all too easy to overlook your kids in the moving process. As professional local movers, our top recommendation is to involve kids in the moving process whenever possible. Even the littlest task can make a difference in your child’s feelings towards their new home.
There are a few ways you can do this. The kids can help you run a yard sale, give their top three choices for repainting the walls of the living room, or even help you narrow down the homes you’re considering. If you have little ones, there are tons of creative ways to repurpose packing material and create moving-day entertainment. Alternatively, let the kids pack a few of their own moving boxes. Or when local packers and movers finish packing your belongings, try customizing moving box labels with your kids’ names written on them, and let them decorate their boxes with stickers — they’ll love it!
Teachers will tell you that kids love the responsibility. It makes them feel valued—it makes them feel grown-up. If your kids are starting to make the relocation difficult, give them a few small jobs. You’ll be amazed by how well they respond. When giving your children jobs, just make sure they are age-appropriate. It seems like an obvious point, but don’t get them to pack your favorite wine glasses or anything fragile. Great jobs for kids include:
- Packing cutlery
- Sorting through books
- Unpacking the fridge.
Of course, we would always suggest you hiring Denver movers-best local movers in town! Even if you are moving with kids our packers and movers will make your upcoming relocation as simple as possible. Choosing us, affordable movers will be your best choice!
- Get rid of extra stuff
When in doubt, throw it out. This is the sentence all local movers will say to you. Children tend to accumulate a lot of things they don’t need: broken crayons, old school assignments, buckets full of old toys, and so on. Between their old junk and your old junk, you probably have a dozen boxes’ worth of stuff you don’t need to pack. Throw out as much of that junk as possible to save time and packing tape. You should definitely do this before your packers and movers arrive. There’s no room at your new home for clutter and children are notorious clutter collectors. There is no need for their rooms to be full of clothes that don’t fit and toys they don’t play with anymore. Relocating is the perfect time to get rid of all these excess items, and set your kids up with an uncluttered new room. But, there’s usually one problem… As you’re trying to get rid of things, your kids will protest. Even if it’s a toy they haven’t picked up in years or a jumper that hasn’t fitted them since they were four, they’ll throw a tantrum if you look like you’re about to throw it away. So, try to declutter when they’re not watching. Wait until they’re at school, kinder or asleep. They’ll never miss anything, and the process will be a lot quicker without the constant protests. Even better, hire professional affordable movers and they will do everything for you. No need for you to even lift a finger, our local packers and movers will take care of everything!
- Organize a Moving Sale
Once you’ve figured out what you want your affordable movers to pack and what you want to purge, get the kids to help you organize a moving sale. Having a garage sale is maybe the best way to go about this. You get rid of extra stuff and earn money in return. It is a win-win situation. But, to have a good garage sale, you need to be prepared. You need to know how to advertise your sale. The best way to do so is to print out flyers and posters. Then you should “hire” your kids to hand the flyers out to passers-by and put posters up on notice boards. Besides, you can use Facebook to create an event and invite people to your sale. Of course, you should let your kids help you with this. They can help you sort through everything, organize it, inventory it, and price and tag it. Let them know that the proceeds from the sale will be used for something for the family. In fact, you can have a family meeting and vote to decide on what that might be. Maybe it’s a giant flat-screen TV for the new house, or maybe it’s a chocolate lab puppy. Whatever it is, the more invested the kids are in the goal, the more helpful they’ll be with organizing the sale. Besides, having less stuff to move means you will pay your affordable movers less, so this is definitely something you should do. As you pay your local movers by the hour, this way you will save your money.
- Prepare their essentials boxes
As moving day draws nearer and nearer, remember that each family member should prepare an essentials box- essentials bag full of absolute essential items he or she will need during the period right before the move and right after the move – the period when the rest of the household items will be inaccessible. Most people who are DIY don’t do it, but as professional local movers, we think this is a very important part of the move. Naturally, your children will also need to have their own essentials boxes packed up and ready to be used. It’s important to note that the nature of those must-have items will depend primarily on the exact age of your kids. Explain that it may take a week or two for all of the moving boxes to be unpacked, so they should keep everything that they want close by in their “moving-day” bag. Your children probably won’t want to be separated for the next week from their favorite teddy bear or Nintendo, so make sure that they pack a “moving day” bag in advance of the move. Ask your kids to set aside their toothpaste and toothbrush, a set of extra clothes + pajamas, most favorite toys, games, books, and so on. Also, when they are done packing their essentials, remind them that they are now in charge of their essentials bag and should keep it with them at all times. Make sure you supervise the sorting process so that they don’t fail to include anything really essential. This way, when your affordable movers pack all of your belonging you will have essentials with you. Of course, you can hire local packers and movers to unpack everything too, so the whole relocation process will be faster, it’s completely up to you!
- Make the packing process fun
Let’s be real: you want your kids to be helpful and you want something that will keep them both busy and entertained. But after all, where’s the fun in sorting out all the things found in a room, then packing those items and preparing an essentials box simultaneously? Above all, where’s the fun in cleaning an entire room? No fun, no fun at all. However, this time your kids may actually get excited by the idea of helping you label all the cardboard boxes you’ve packed. And not only label, but also decorate those moving boxes with markers, stickers, and decorative tape. Urge them to use their imagination and beautify those boring cardboard boxes. As long as the contents and destination room remain visible on the box, your kids should feel welcome to decorate your packing boxes any way they want. One good idea is to invite your children to draw some of the items packed inside the box, write down coded messages for the local movers, or just doodle whatever they wish. You can organize a contest for the fanciest boxes of them all. Ultimately, the more fun the labeling process becomes for your kids, the more work you’ll be able to do simply because they will be busy and will let you and your affordable movers work without too many distractions.
To conclude, you’ve found your dream house–the perfect place to raise your family. It’s a beautiful new build with a big yard, friendly neighbors, nice parks and great schools. You’ve finished all the headache of closing on the home and selling your current place, same as hiring local packers and movers; now all you have to do is survive moving with your kids. Between packing, hauling, and adjusting to a new environment, moving to your dream house can quickly turn into a nightmare for you and your family. But, with the right tools at your disposal, you can survive moving house, even with your children ‘helping’. Denver movers have been helping move families for years, so we have a few tricks up our sleeve to keep the kids happy while you set about moving your family into your new home. Use these tips you read to make things go as smoothly as possible and keep your little campers happy throughout your move. Call us as soon as possible and get your free moving quote! We promise we will make your upcoming relocation with kids stress-free! Being the best affordable movers out there, we have a lot of experience and we know everything we need to know about moving with kids! Schedule Centennial Movers today!