Moving can be a great experience for children.

Our guys at T-N-T Moving Systems in Charlotte have helped move many little ones from place to place. 

Moving can be a great experience for children.  Whether you are moving down the street in Charlotte, or across the country, your child can look forward to a new neighborhood, more friends, and a new school.  According to the US Census Bureau, approximately 13 million children move every year until they reach the age of nineteen.  That’s nineteen different homes before they get to college! 

Parents know their children better than anyone else and are uniquely qualified to ease them through the transition to a new home.  Talk to your child as soon as you know you are planning to move.  Listening to him or her will help your child adjust to the idea of moving.  Have your children write down questions they may have about the move, and then discuss them.  Children will worry about their friends and their schools, so make sure to touch on these subjects when you talk about the move.  Let them know that they are not losing their old friends but gaining new ones.

Preparation for a move can be a hopeful and happy time for a child if the adult in their life approaches the change with a positive attitude.  Prepare your child for the move by exploring the new area together.  If possible, tour the new area with your child.  Visit the new home with your child.  Plan a possible layout for the child’s new bedroom.  Go through newspapers and maps from the new area.  Point out pools, parks or other areas near where you are moving that the child will enjoy.  Discuss the good things about the move.  The new home may be larger, and the move will give the child a bigger room.  The new home may be close to a park with a fun playground.  The move may put you closer to an amusement park you can visit.  Put a spin on the move that will be exciting and new. 

Help your children keep in touch with their friends and teachers by creating an address book to keep contact information.  You have address books to store all the phone numbers and addresses of your friends, so why shouldn’t they?  A move does not mean the end of a neighborhood friendship.  Let your child know that they will not be losing friends in the move, only gaining new ones.  You may also want to hold a moving party, where your children’s friends can come and say goodbye, or a moving slumber party where they can spend the night.

Have your children pack a bag of their “essentials” for the move.  This bag will have their favorite toys, their favorite games, and their favorite books.  Have them choose items that they will want to have near during the move, and the first things they will want to play with in the new home.  If the “blankie” is a comfort, it needs to be within reach and not packed in a moving box.

If you are planning to discard old toys or items before the move, allow your child to go through the items with you.  Having your children go through the toys and making the decisions will create involvement.  Have them also label all the moving boxes that include their belongings.  Children will feel more secure seeing their labels on the moving box, and they can follow the moving boxes as a company like T-N-T Moving Systems carry the moving boxes from the old home, into the truck, and finally into the new home.  Also, by loading the child’s room last into the moving van, and setting their room up first, you can help your child settle in faster.

 

Once the move is complete, get your children involved in the new neighborhood.  If you just moved across Charlotte, you can invite old friends over to help meet new ones.  You may want to sign the child up for a local baseball team, or the local after-school programs. 

How to Handle Moving Stress

There are many ways to handle stress.  The first step is always to figure out what is causing the stress.  Not all stress can be easily resolved, but something like bad planning can be. 

Moving was ranked as the third most stressful event in our society, according to a study by the Employee Relocation Council.  It ranks just under death and divorce.  Moving whether by choice or not takes people away from what is comfortable, and placed them into a new environment.

The management team at T-N-T Moving Systems has observed thousands of moves.  The really low-stress, successful moves that they observed started with good planning.  Home owners that established a plan ahead of time and organized the details did much better than those that did not.  The trick is to decide what needs to be done before the move.  Organize your move into manageable chunks.  Most moves can be organized using a simple plan of action like the one below.

When deciding what to do when, take care of the easy stuff first!

Some tasks can be taken care of before any boxes are packed. 

• Choose a reputable moving company, such as T-N-T Moving Systems, to help with your move.
• Arrange an address change through the post office.
• Request extra trash pickup for items you will be throwing away instead of taking.  If you have a really large move or you have been in your home for a long time, you will have more trash than will fit in your regular sized trash can.  You might consider renting a small dumpster.  You will be surprised at how in-expensive this is and how convenient it makes trash removal for those odd shaped items.  Anyone that has tried to shove old curtain rods into an already over loaded trash can will attest to this one!
• Notify your utilities of your address change – gas, power, water, phone, cable/satellite, internet, etc.  This includes having the utilities at your new home scheduled.
• Make arrangements for your pets and children on moving day.  Having friends take care of them will take the stress of watching out for them off your shoulders.  This is a HUGE detail that we cannot emphasize enough!  The guys at T-N-T have stepped over, moved, hushed and entertained more babies and dogs than you can imagine but it takes time and really seems to add enormous amounts of stress.
• Transfer your medical prescriptions to a pharmacy closer to your new home.  Holidays and moves bring on the viruses!  If you have a large family, you can almost count on someone getting sick.  Having an Emergency Health Care Center and Drug Store lined up is a huge relief. 
• Contact your insurance companies and change your address.  Also, jot down the name and number of your insurance agent on an index card and stick it in your purse.  If something breaks or gets lost, you don’t want to have to unpack the office to find their number.
• Make cleaning arrangements for once your belongings are moved out of the home.  Remember, you will be busy at the new home or traveling to the new home so if possible, get a friend to check in with the cleaners and give them a check if the job is well done.
• Establish a floor plan for your new home so that you and the movers are aware of where and how items will be placed.

The next step is to pack wisely!

While packing your belongings, label every box with the contents and the destination room.  Make sure to label on the top and all sides so that it can be easily seen inside the truck and stacked inside the new home.

Mark the boxes you will need quick access to so that you and the moving company will know to set those boxes aside.  You will need items such as towels, soap, plates, bed sheets, etc.  Consider everything you will need on your first night in your new home, and make those boxes visible.

Ensure all fragile items are packed safely and securely.  Decorative items need packaging material for any type of move.  Pack like items together.  Silverware and plates can be included in the same box, but avoid placing plates and glasses together.  Some of this may seem obvious, but placing glass vases with a television set could prove damaging.

With careful preparation, your moving day can be a pleasant experience.  For more information on successful planning, contact Tom and Todd at T-N-T Moving Systems.