How to Prepare for a Move with Little Kids Around

This is a post I wrote over a year ago when our family moved from Tennessee to Louisiana. Recently our family made a local move out of an apartment and into a house with a yard, Hooray! I wanted to dedicate the whole month of September to provided Moving Tips and Resources that have benefited our family over the years. Enjoy…

In the last month our family just went through the process of moving to a new state. The move was the farthest we have ever traveled. With the most kids we have ever had. And the most we have ever had going on while trying to move… My husband works 40+ hours a week. I homeschool two of our children, while also caring for our three little boys. I even spend a few hours each day working on my Blog Growing Confident. Having personally been through the process of moving with little kids over five times I wanted to share how I am able to make a move happen semi stress free. By following these steps, I hope to show you how to prepare for a move with little kids around.

Creating a List of Moving Tasks

The first place I would start in order to prepare for a move with little kids is brain dump and research everything you may need to do. Will your current job pay to relocate you, or do you need to budget for the move? Do you want to hire a Moving Company to pack for you? Will you buy or rent right when you move? What are the housing options in your new area? When will you notify the Utility Company that you need services cut off? Fill any prescriptions your family may need. Begin collecting boxes and packing supplies. How will you break down the tasks of packing each room? What home projects do you need to be complete before your move?

Some items on my brain dump include declutter the house. Give the landlord a 30-day notice that we are moving out. Secure a moving truck. Reach out to our local school system and inform them we would be moving. Fill out homeschool forms in our new state and county. Start packing rooms. Cancel utility services. Pack an essential box of items we may need during the move. Donate any items or food we won’t be taking with us. Return library books or pick up dry cleaning. Change the oil in our van. Purchase any last-minute items to make the drive easier on my kids.

Plan When You Need to Complete Moving Tasks

Do you have two months until you move, 4 weeks or less? Break down tasks per month or week to fit the time you have to work with. Breaking things up will make the process seem not as overwhelming. You may even realize that by doing just one item on your list per day you will be able to knock things out quickly. This will also help you focus on the right things at the right time. You don’t want to submit a notice to your landlord a week before you move when they require 30 days. Or pack up the kitchen a month before you move when you still plan to feed your family at home.

I had 6 weeks to prepare for a move with little kids around. By breaking my list down by week, I was able to see that I actually only had a few things to get done week to week, thus making the process very pain free. I even had a week of breathing room in case a few days did not go as planned, and I needed to reschedule some moving tasks.

Schedule Time Each Day to Complete Moving Tasks from Your List

Once you have your list of moving tasks broken down by week, pick time each day when you will complete them. The best time to prepare for a move with little kids is to schedule moving tasks during naps, or after the kids are in bed. Maybe work on tasks when you send them outside to play. Perhaps turn the TV on and let them watch for 30 minutes to an hour, if you want to knock something out uninterrupted. If you would like to commit longer chunks of time to get moving tasks done with little kids maybe even hire help to watch the kids.

For our family I mixed up how I got things done and used all of the suggestions above. My kids’ ages are 6, 4, 3, 2 years old, and 10 months so my older children can only help with so much. I tend to complete my blog work during naptime, but I did knock items off my moving tasks list on days I finished work early. If the kids played outside extra-long another day, then I packed up nonessentials in the kitchen. I had even scheduled our babysitter to come a few times so I would have the extra help. I was VERY thrilled when my parents came to visit for a long weekend in order to help us pack and prepare for the move. They also watched the kids while Sam and I ran last minute errands together! Thanks Dad and Mom 🙂

Prepare for a Move by Just Getting Tasks Done!

There will be days when you just don’t want to bother with moving tasks. But you will thank yourself the closer you get to moving day. You won’t be worried or stressed out about all you have to do. By breaking up the tasks over the months and weeks you have you won’t ever have too much on your plate.

There was one day during our moving preparations that my kids got sick. Most of my day was spent caring for them, so decluttering the house later in the day did not sound fun! However, by waiting until the evening when the kids were in bed and my husband was home to help, cleaning out our laundry room did not take more than an hour.

Preparing for a move with little kids around may seem overwhelming and almost impossible. But by brain dumping your list of moving tasks, breaking up the tasks by month or week, and completing one item every day you will be so grateful to yourself come moving day!

Have other suggestions on How to Prepare for a Move with Little Kids Around?

Please share in the comments, I would love to hear your ideas!