Let The Packing Begin - Again!

We moved from house hunting, to house buying, to packing up the rental house.

June will be busy with packing, cleaning, and unpacking again.

Watch for us in July, returning with summer fun posts, from our new house across town.  We'll hope to see you then.

 

Moving With Children - Toy Story Surprise

The last time we moved my youngest children were just toddlers (and C had not even been born yet).  They were so disturbed by the site of our house emptied out, I had to hire someone to clean the house for us after we moved out.  It was easy to justify the expense, as I was pregnant then too, and seriously bothered by the smell of cleaning products.

This time around, I was able bodied, and the children were older, so while the Man of the House and crew were driving the moving truck toward our new home, I stayed behind with the younger children for a thorough day of cleaning.  Knowing that, while the children probably wouldn't spend their time in the empty house wailing, as they had when they were toddlers, it was still going to be a difficult day for them, I had prepared a little surprise.

First off, I hyped up the day for them ahead of time, promising that we would have a Toy Story marathon, while I cleaned.  I loaded the three Toy Story movies onto my laptop, so the children could follow me from room to room, watching them, while I listened along.  So, even before we started they were looking forward to a special day with Mom.

Then, I ordered an inexpensive Toy Story play-set off of Amazon, timing it so that it would be delivered on the day we were cleaning.

Without any other toys to be had, the little figures were a big hit.  The children used them to act out the movies, and play out stories of their own, until we were ready to head to the hotel for the evening, and then on to our new town the next day.

Before we left the house, I was careful to pocket the Buzz and Woody figurines.  The children were naturally concerned when they realized they were missing - and joyously happy when they showed back up in the van the next day...just like in the movie!  Imagine that.

Moving With Children - Packing Memories

 As I mentioned in my last post a few weeks ago, when we were just beginning to pack, moving can be difficult for children, especially if you've lived in one place for most, or all of their lives.  Memories don't always fit neatly into boxes - not all of them anyway.  So, keeping that in mind, we were careful to make a big production of taking along whatever memories we could.

Like the height chart on the wall...

...which we copied onto a couple of yardsticks, to be hung on the wall of our new house (an old idea from Martha Stewart).

 Or, picking seeds from favorite plants from around our yard, to plant at the new place.

Carefully removing, and rolling up artwork, like the wall-sized T-Rex mural (we downloaded from Art Projects for Kids, printed, colored, and assembled for hanging, five years ago).

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And of course, making a Plaster of Paris copy of the hand prints the children had placed in the concrete next to our driveway.

The Man of the House built a wood frame, held together with screws, around the hand prints.  I slathered the cement with Vaseline, and sprayed the wood with a baking spray mixed with flour.  Then, we mixed up the plaster of Paris, and poured it into the frame.

Once it was set, we unscrewed, and removed the frame.  It came right off, but it took a couple of taps with a rubber mallet before we could pop the plaster off of the cement to reveal the mirror image copy, ready to be wrapped, and placed carefully into the truck.

I was surprised it worked as well as it did.  The Vaseline (a tip I found on some help board, or other) was messy, and a pain to wipe off the mold, but it did keep the plaster from sticking to the cement.

It was extra work paying attention to all the little details in the middle of a move, but it was big deal to the children, and really helped to calm some of their regrets about leaving the house behind.

Moving With Children - Playing as We Pack

Moving can be difficult for children.  Watching as their home is dismantled, and packed can be unnerving, and unsettling.  With just a few short weeks left, before a cross-state move of our own, we've been looking for ways to alleviate the younger children's anxiety, and build excitement for the adventure instead.

Packing is a lot of work, but taking time to add elements of play to the process has really been paying off. 

Take for instance the board games.  Instead of shoveling them straight from the shelves into boxes, we decided each game, and puzzle (as much as time will allow) needs to be played, or put together again, before it's packed.

Then, after we get moved into our new house, we will try to play each game once more, as we unpack.

Playing through the games has been time consuming, but it has given the younger girls something to do, other than watch while I pack.  They get to help by playing.  The more games they play, the more they get to pack into the boxes.  They're enjoying the challenge, as well as the chance to play a few of their favorite "forgotten" games.

And, besides distracting the younger children, playing all the old games has helped to reinforce a sense of family togetherness for our teens, who while not anxious, aren't exactly sold on the idea of a move yet, either.