Top 10 tips for moving

Top 10 tips for moving....

We've moved a lot. We've lived in 9 places in our 11 years of marriage (almost), so that means 8 moves. We've had some great experiences, and some not so great experiences. A personal fave was 2 moves ago, when we arrived at the new place we were renting, and he hadn't moved his stuff out yet. We literally had the moving truck, had been packing for weeks, and we had finally arrived, and he wasn't ready for us. We had a 3 year old and a 5 month old! Need I say more? I spent the next few days packing his kitchen up. The refrigerator was full of old food (this was just a weekend house). We ended up just taking the entire fridge, full of food, to the dump. It was more than I could handle to clean out the old food. Not our best move. But, our precious friends stepped in and helped with the kids, the unpacking, etc. We are blessed by wonderful friendships! Moving is hard, and that is why I share this list with you, so that you don't have the same experiences.

This is totally how we look when moving. Big smiles, no sweat, and perfectly put together. 

#10. Check with your new landlord or the realtor of the house you have bought to see if the people have actually moved out before your arrival. Kind of important. Not cool. Not cool at all. This should probably be #1 on the list, but I'm still trying to block it from my memory.

#9. Make sure your fridge arrives BEFORE you move in, or shortly after. When we bought our town home, we didn't have a fridge, but we did have a TWO WEEK OLD baby, so that makes things easy. The fridge was the LAST thing on my mind. We lived out of a cooler, and I still can hardly stand the smell of Mi Tierra, due to all of the burritos and tacos that we consumed from their take out.

#8. Get a moving truck. We have tried the friends with trucks thing. It's lame. Since we have moved such short distances it made sense, but it's no fun. Bite the bullet. Do it. Rent that truck! (Shout it like Ty Pennington, "Move that bus!") Do one big move, instead of 10 mini-moves.  Everyone will thank you. Get the truck the night before and start loading the boxes. 
Now some might say that most of this list could be made obsolete by paying professional packers and movers, but where is the fun in that? ;)

#7. Make a countdown with your children. We made a paper chain. They sprint up the stairs each morning to rip off a chain to see how many days left until the big move. It includes them and helps keep them excited. We have been blessed to only move within the same county since we had children, so the moves aren't very traumatic for the kids and they are pretty stoked.

#6. Don't pack the majority of the kids' toys! What was I thinking? What are they supposed to do? Watch another video?! Well, yes, most likely. We'll just have to go on a media fast once this madness is all over. You will find yourself unpacking toys left and right, because it will be necessary.


#5. Don't sell your washer and dryer a week before you move. Yes, you can go to the laundromat, your mother's or your best friend's house, but WAIT...You are in the middle of MOVING! It's a stressful and busy time. Note to self: Call laundry fairy (my Mom) and ask her to periodically pick up our laundry and save the day.

#4. Don't underestimate the small stuff. Don't tell yourself, "Oh, I'll just toss that in the car at the last." NO! Stop! Pack it in a box. You will be so overwhelmed by all the small at the very end, you will wish you had packed it (Also learned this the hard way).

#3. Don't pack too late. Start packing the non-essentials early. Break down beds. It's ok for your mattresses to be on the floor. Pack all of the bells and whistles, but none of the basics.

#2. NEVER pack too early. Oh my. I packed all of the medicine 5 days ago, and last night in a sweat, I ripped open 5 different boxes (in between a sleep walking child and a vomiting child) to locate the meds, so we could sleep through the night. The second you pack a food item or a pot or pan, you will find that you immediately are wanting to make muffins, or waffles, or start drinking smoothies. (these literally all happened these week) hahaha!

And for the grade finale, I offer you my greatest tip for moving....

#1. If a friend offers to help you move, keep that friend for life. (Great advice Dad) If they help you pack, take your kids on a playdate, do the heavy lifting, help you clean, unpack, babysit....Whether they are able to make it on the actual moving day or not, never let them go. Provide food and drinks and rave about their selflessness and how you love them forever. Moving is hard, and anyone that would even consider helping you is straight from Heaven and should be cherished. A BFF necklace might need to be ordered for each helper. They can wear the other half of the heart, and you can wear the other 8 halves of the locket around your neck forever to remind yourself that you have the best friends in the world.

7 days left on the paper chain! Let's do this!

EDIT: We have started our move and so I now need to add a new #1 ++++ Make sure when you decide to move in a day early and you arrive with your children (without your husband), that there is no one sleeping in your garage!!! I am serious, this just happened. We are already laughing about it, but yesterday I was shaking. Today we are changing the locks, and yesterday is another one for the history books!!