Moving with a toddler

So there are few of us that actually enjoy moving. The mounds of packing paper, endless moving boxes and fights with the tape gun are just not fun for most. Me however, I love it. For a few reasons one of which is the excitement of “starting over”.  Meaning purging stuff you don’t need, organizing the way you have been meaning to for months, and getting to decorate a new space. I’ve never moved with a child – let alone a very active and mobile one – nor have I moved pregnant. As I sit here now waiting for all of our stuff to arrive I sit here triumphantly with a proud feeling that we’ve done it…almost. J

We decided to move and bought a house all within 4 weeks – so we haven’t had an incredibly long period of time to pack up our 4,000 square foot house and get to stepping so it’s been no easy feat. And I have to give a HUGE shout out to my husband who has been a rock star – we made a great team. I packed about 200 boxes and he carried all 200 boxes up and down the stairs to get them out of sight for showings, to hide them for inspections and to move a load to the new house when we closed to make moving day easier – couldn’t have done it without him.

I also couldn’t have done it without Ceej being such a trooper – he really has been amazing. From having to play independently while mommy packed boxes (or while mommy rested from packing too many boxes) to being shuffled around between the new house, the old house and grandma’s house – he has been an absolute rock star.

My nuggets first room was the hardest room in the whole house for me to pack up. I literally did it the night before the big move. 

So what advice do I have for those of you thinking of moving with a toddler or moving while pregnant? Don’t!  Haha, no just kidding. It honestly has not been that bad. Take it one day at a time and set small goals such as “I’ll pack the guest bath today”, etc. It really helped for me to finish off the small and easy rooms so I at least could cross those off the list and be done with them. Our house has been on the market since the beginning of the move process so we didn’t have the luxury of leaving boxes and moving supplies around so that added to the stress of the situation – but nothing we couldn’t figure out.

Ceej enjoyed the move more than anyone!

I think the best advice I can give is to stay flexible. Nothing went perfectly. There was no parking for the U Haul and we had to park it a block away – not convenient but we dealt with it and Ceej and I kept Daddy company by walking up and down the sidewalk with him with Dunkin munchkins. J We had surprise showings with boxes all over the house and a few hours to get them all to the basement – all while I’m not supposed to be lifting much – but again – a little bickering but we made it through. It’s important to remember that nothing in life every goes exactly as you plan – and moving is certainly one of those things!

The other advice I would give is give yourself a break. Don’t try to do too much at once – especially when it comes to unpacking on the other end. It’s likely you are moving to a place you will be for sometime so there is no rush to get the entire house unpacked and settled in a day – it just won’t happen and you will burn yourself out. There have been a few nights where Chris and I had TONS to do but we said nope – let’s order a pizza, pop in a movie and just chill – our bodies and minds will thank us for it and we will be in much better shape to hit the ground running in the morning.

Things were not all puppy dogs and kittens - we had our rough moments!

The last piece of advice I will give is as it relates to moving with a toddler. To put it nicely – this shit is rough. You have to split up and you can’t be together for the move. For me – this was a good thing for today – as a pregnant, hormonal mess I just didn’t want to watch all of our stuff being carted out of our home – I’d rather be here and watch it being carted into the new one.  Ceej has definitely had his share of weird, seemingly unnecessary meltdowns and they have been extremely frustrating until you take a step back and realize I hate this process – it must be even worse on him! We’ve tried to do most of the move without asking for help either with the move or help watching Ceej just because that’s how we tend to be – but looking back I wish we had at least asked for a little help with him. Whether it be for a few hours to pack or even today on the day of the move so we could coordinate together and not have to split up. It’s hard and exhausting and I honestly think I will nap with Ceej for a week when this is all over – but it’s fun and exciting and I’m so thankful to be able to do it!

This dude was a rockstar through it all - couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime!

XOXO

K