Moving yourself and your family ranks as one of the most stressful experiences anyone goes through. In most cases moving to a new home is ranked as being just as stressful as divorce, or even a death in the family.
Fortunately, moving is all about new beginnings, but you will still need to prepare your children, your partner, and your pets for the move well in advance of the day itself.
At Fuller Moving Services, as one of the most trusted movers in Sacramento, we have years of moving expertise we’d like to share with you. In fact, if you follow these tips we can assure you that moving will go much smoother.
Discussion About Moving with the Family
Although it is a parent’s decision to relocate to a new home, that doesn’t mean that the matter shouldn’t be discussed with your entire family. If you choose to force through your personal agenda, without any opportunity for your partner and kids to make their feelings known, this will definitely lead to feelings of resentment later on, and a road trip you’ll probably regret.
The reality is that the move might be necessary regardless of what people think or feel, but including your entire family in the overall decision will make the process a lot less stressful on you and them.
Deciding on the Moving Process
It can be very difficult to uproot yourself and relocate to a new city or state. In fact, it’s so difficult for most people that they procrastinate themselves into a corner, constantly delaying the decision to actually leave because it’s too painful.
Do yourself a favor by setting out a timetable that everyone can see and contribute to – make it a huge wall chart and get the entire family involved. Once you have set a moving date you need to plan towards that, and then stick to your plan.
Involved in Moving Preparation
There’s nothing quite like arriving at a new property only to find it’s not quite what you expected i.e. the furniture is missing, or the heating is broken, or it smells weird. Even in a perfectly kept property, it still won’t feel as “homey” as your actual home did.
You can’t really do anything to fix that until you start living in your new home, but you can make it a lot easier for people and pets to adapt and adjust by making sure that the property is somewhere you can actually live, before you all arrive there.
A great tip is to bring along some of your kids favorite toys or comfort items – they’ll help make a strange, new home a lot less strange, a lot faster. Pets will appreciate anything with your scent on it, so make sure they’re taken care of too.
Encouraging the Family to Express Honest Feelings
In most circumstances tantrums from children should never be entertained – it’s a bad example for them to think they can kick and scream to get what they want. When moving to a new home, it’s important that you encourage your kids to share with you exactly how they feel, and if that means shedding lots of tears and raising their voices, then it’s probably best to let them get that out of their system.
Once they know you care enough to listen to their concerns, and then support them through the entire move, you’ll find that they’ll adjust more quickly. Simply laying down the law isn’t going to work though, so avoid that approach.
Sibling Support Through the Move
If your kids are a few years apart it might help if you ask the older kids to help the younger kids with the move. This will distract them from their own feelings of sadness that they’re leaving their old home behind, and your younger children will get the kind of family support they need from those closest to them.
If you do nothing else before moving to a new home please make sure that you plan each step of the move carefully, and this can be made a lot easier if you pay a professional mover to take care of all the heavy work for you.
Wondering how much a professional mover in Sacramento costs? You can get a FREE quote from us before making any decisions (and receive a FREE packing kit).