Moving is stressful all on its own, but when you add in the addition that kids or pets (or both) can bring to the mix, it can feel downright impossible. Depending on the age of your children and whether your fur baby is a cat or a dog, can make some moves easier than others, but any stress you’re feeling can manifest exponentially in your dependents.
When your children (of any species) are happier, you’ll also feel relief. Win-win! Before your move your household to a new residence, read these tips, then make your own personal plan.
1. Consider the timing.
There really isn’t an “easy” time to move your household, but there are definitely some life events that make moving more difficult for everybody. If there’s been an unfortunate death in the family or you’re going through a divorce, then everyone is likely to already be feeling some anxiety.
Delaying a move by six months to a year to give all the dependents in the household time to adjust might be completely impossible, which is understandable — life happens out of our control all the time. But think about whether you can offer your babies a respite from change for at least a few months so that you aren’t heaping change after change on kids or animals.
2. Research your new area.
When you tell your kids about the move, they’re going to have questions. Your pets may not have quite as many questions, but they’ll still want the assurance of some consistency, like the ability to go on a walk or the availability of their food. Here’s a couple of things you may research at the very beginning:
- Schools, parks, walking trails, pet stores, veterinarians, pediatricians, local restaurants, attractions, libraries, and more.
- Find some gems that you know will excite your kids when they hear about them and be able to answer their questions.
Older kids might want to help with research with you and you should encourage them to dig into whatever they want to know about their new home, but it really helps to have a solid understanding of where you’re going before you break the news.
3. Talk to your kids about the move.
Depending on how old they are, their concerns will vary. Younger kids might have more questions about what will happen to their toys, while adolescents are likely to be more concerned about school and friends.
This is a good time to share some of what you’ve learned about your new area, such as whether the local grocery store carries their favorite snacks, or what their new school will be like. You don’t want to overwhelm your kids but help them get excited about the change by emphasizing some of the positive differences between here and there.
There are plenty of age-appropriate conversations you can have with your children when you’re getting ready to move in order to help them prepare emotionally for the change. (Unfortunately, this doesn’t work nearly so well with pets, but if you think that your animals understand you, feel free to give them a rundown, too!)
4. Emphasize similarity.
People (and animals) dread change because they’re afraid of the unknown. So, while you’re having any moving discussions, make a point to talk about what isn’t going to change. If you’ve always hosted Thanksgiving, then tell your kids they’ll still be celebrating by cooking with you in the kitchen. Tell your sports fans that they’ll still be able to watch or play their favorites or emphasize to your bookworm that the library is in the same district and access to all the same books is guaranteed.
Pets won’t be as able to appreciate these discussions, but you can do them a favor by thinking about how you can work to emphasize similarity when they get to their new environment. Can you set up their favorite “room” exactly the way they know it right now? What can you do to acclimate them to some of the new sights and sounds and smells they’ll encounter during the move?
Make sure to keep at least some of your pet's familiar items around which will have their smells on them. Things like toys, chews, and beds. The urge to buy all new and clean things for the new place, may just be too much for Fido to handle all at once.
5. Make a moving day plan.
Moving day itself is going to be peak stressful for you, the pets, and the kids, so to remove some of that stress in advance, plan the heck out of the day itself.
- For kids, this may involve coming up with safe ways they can participate, or alternatively, planning to get them safely out of the way while the move is actually taking place. If you have friends or grandparents who’ve offered to help watch the kids, consider taking them up on it!
- For pets, a moving day plan may involve dropping them off at a pet hotel or doggie day care, or keeping their favorite room as intact as possible and locking them inside while everything gets moved out of the house. If you have the chance to acclimate them to the pet care facilities in advance, then this might be the least stressful for your fur babies.
6. Consider hiring movers.
Hiring movers can be like hiring someone to clean the house — perhaps you feel like packing and moving is something you should be able to do yourself.
Professional packers and movers have turned the chaos of moving into a science. Their efficiency and expertise can save you days of your own life, and they can also allow you to make alternate plans for moving day itself. Maybe you can take the kids to an amusement park or the dog to the dog park while your partner supervises the move?
But also, much like hiring someone to clean the house, the amount of stress that hiring a pro can alleviate is noteworthy and often well worth the expense.
7. Secure your animals while the move is happening.
Two things you already know you don’t want to be doing on moving day: chasing your leash less, collarless dog through the neighborhood or coaxing your cat out from underneath the porch.. If sending them to day care or having a trusted friend watch them isn’t an option, then make sure you’re prepared to keep your pets confined and contained while the move is happening around them. Secure them behind a door they can’t open and leave water, litter boxes, toys, and whatever else they might need for a few hours out and available for them.
Make sure you have a loud, obnoxious sign that you can fasten on the door warning anyone who might open it that there are nervous pets behind it and asking them to leave it shut.
Melissa Summers
Hi there! I am the Broker & Owner of Country Roots Realty, and I am here to help sellers or buyers with all of their real estate needs here in the heart of the Pineywoods of East Texas.
