Making Moving with Kids Less Stressful

by Leyla [Thisdayilove] - 17:00

There are lots of significant life events that are made more difficult, although often more joyous too, when you have children. They can make things you took for granted before, such as holidays, an entirely different experience, and they can cause already stressful events to feel even more stressful. Moving house is one of the things they make difficult but it's also interesting to get them involved. If you have to look for somewhere new to live, you can make it less of a nightmare and more fun by getting the kids involved.

Looking for a Home

When you first start looking for a house, you can get the kids involved from the beginning. Although you can't give them final say over where you live, you can let them feel like they have a choice, even if they don't in reality. They could come with you to your local Taylors letting branch or chosen lettings agent and tag along on the viewings. Obviously, you may not want to do this or even be able to, especially if you have several children trailing behind you. But you can take them to see your final choice before you move so they can pick out a room and give their approval.

Packing to Move

Packing up a family home to move house is chaos at the best of times. But it can be made worse by children getting under your feet. As much as you love them, they're not always helpful when it comes to practical tasks. You can get them to be useful and feel like they have an important role in the move. One of the easiest things they can do is help to pack up some of the things in their room, for which you can provide minimal supervision. They won't need watching to do things like packing their cuddly toys or books.

Moving Day

When moving day arrives, it's all hands on deck. Whether or not you've hired movers to help you, there's a lot going on. You should decide whether the kids are going to stay with you or if you could get someone to look after them for the day. If they're going to stick around for the move, you can give them something to do. Either put them in an empty room with some toys or let them help by moving small boxes or directing others with where to go.

Settling In

Arriving at the new house can be lots of fun. You won't have everything set up just yet, so you can have a takeaway and camp out on the floor. Make sure you have an easily accessible box or bag of essentials, even if it's just paper plates and plastic cups. Try to start unpacking the kids' rooms fairly soon. That way, they can begin getting settled in and making the space their own as quickly as possible.

You can turn moving with the kids into an adventure. You never know, you might even find it fun in the end.