Well, Peanuts. We somehow survived the pack out.
People always say, "oh how nice! How nice that they pack for you! That saves you so much time and effort!" Yes. It is and it does. But.
I have learned from experience now, that sitting back with a cocktail as the (lowest bidders for the job) packers do it all for you, is a decision that will only necessitate a great many cocktails on the other end of that move. The packers are about speed; they see something, dump it in a box, move on. So if, for instance, you have a little box of pins in your sewing drawer, it will be all kinds of interesting unpacking the box they got dumped into when you get to the new place. Like your own welcome cactus in a box! Or if, for instance, you are me and you like things to be organized and so you put everything into little labeled boxes and baskets and such, you are going to be silently listing all the expletives you know when you see that the packers took aaaallllll the categorized, organized toys in the whole playroom, and dumped each box out together in one big box, and then put all your boxes in another box. Why? Why commingle the barbies with the trains? Why all the legos all mixed in with the monopoly game pieces and hundreds of puzzle pieces? Did I insult someone's mother? I mean, why? Imagine how fun it is to have a whole house to set up, and have to spend an entire afternoon sitting on the floor....playing puzzles. And jewelry. 20 little chain necklaces all in one giant knot. That will take two afternoons. If there is trash in the wastebasket, it's getting dumped in a box (with other stuff!) and packed. If there are wet washcloths hanging, you are getting a box of mold on the other end. And so. I have learned the importance of pre-packing. This time around, with J's help, I managed to get it all done in two (very long) days (and most of the night). Here are my tips for military movers:
1) Have a yard sale and/or donation cleanse first. I think it helps the transition to involve the kids. We went through all their stuff and made a pile of things that "someone else might love to have". On yard-sale day, I spread out two big blankets, gave them a cash box, a stool, and an box for a counter, and let them set up their "store". They spent half the morning working on their displays, putting shoes here and books there. They were in charge of setting prices, negotiating with buyers, collecting and counting money, and giving back change. The rule is, whatever money is made from the sale of their things, they get to keep. This is a pretty good motivation to let things go.
2) Go through all bottles of shampoo and such and either ziplock them or be sure those lids are closed and tight. The packers do not always care if the shampoo is open and upside-down.
3) Tiny things like needles, thumbtacks, paperclips, and jewelry have to be placed into a container that will not open. For jewelry, I fold each necklace or pair of earrings into a handkerchief; roll, place another in, roll, etc. to keep them padded and separate. Then I put the rolled handkerchiefs into a jewelry bag zip it up, and wrap it.
4)Movers wrap is my best friend. It's basically a ginormous roll of really strong saran wrap. All my little boxes and baskets, all the puzzles, and so on get wrapped up in that stuff. This time I wrapped an entire cabinet of little drawers. Because I am not separating dress-up shoes from tiaras all day in July. I would rather have the moving guy look at me funny. I explain in the beginning that if it's wrapped in plastic, it goes as is. Some packers hate me for it (takes up a lot more boxes), some love it (most of the job is done for them). But it's the difference between unpacking a room in one day, or taking a week to sort things out. I've even taken drawers out of dressers, wrapped them, and had them pack the drawers into boxes. When I get there, I just stick the drawers in and I'm done! It's easy to wash a drawer at a time and put a whole load back in one place, rather than re-sort everything.
5) Make signs. I empty a closet or two myself, then put everything I don't want packed in there and make a "do not pack" sign on the door.
6) Because things can be handled roughly, lost, or stored in uncontrolled conditions, go through and take out anything that is really special, or can't be replaced (like old film photo albums, little clay baby handprints, old family things, and a hard-drive with photos and videos), and pull it out. Usually we put them in our trunk and drive it to the new house ourselves, but since that would mean hauling it around for six weeks (and I have to admit I have a ton of old photo albums), we left it with a friend this time. We also had a generous friend collect and babysit our house plants until we can pick them up.
7)Anything you don't want dirty (throw pillows, sofas, anything) or that is really fragile, wrap yourself.
7) Do ALL the laundry, empty wastebaskets, wash ALL the dishes, and keep people from using them. So hard with little kids who are in the routine of throwing things away in certain places. And changing their outfits five HUNDRED times a day.
Not to mention, all the stuff in high cabinets or shelves has to be brought down, all the stuff on the walls taken down, swing sets and play houses dismantled, electronics unplugged and serial numbers listed, hardware labeled, etc.
So even though it truly is a huge service to have packers come and do the heavy work, it's not exactly a breeze, unless I want to pay for it later.
We arranged to have the Sisters stay late at school on those days to keep them out of harms way, and after the packers left I would move things around to make their room safe again.
Coming home and seeing all your stuff gone and a bunch of boxes in its place can be upsetting for little ones. To help ease the pain, we bend some of our rules during moving time. We let them watch a movie on a school night (bonus of keeping them entertained safely, away from towers of boxes that could topple if climbed), have popsicles, and stay up late for extra cuddles. I also gave them a sheet of "This box belongs to me" stickers to put on their boxes so we can find them right away when we get there.
And the last night, we got to go to a hotel with a swimming pool. Oooohhhh. Aaaaahhhhh.
So far Missy actually seems to be loving the adventure of it all, and until She collapses from the lack of naps at the end of the day is extraordinarily cheerful. Little One is very, very sad to leave friends behind, and to leave the familiar, and alternates between being happy and excited, sad and tearful, and moody and obstinate. Frankly I'm pretty much the same, so I get it. Moving is hard. It takes a lot of work and is, in every sense of the word, unsettling. The one I'm looking to as a role model in all of this is Little Mister. Mister has had some protesting over the disruption of His perfect schedule. But overall He is dealing with it all better than any of us.
He doesn't care about our stuff being boxed up, or whether it will arrive in one piece, or at all. Who cares about a bunch of stuff? He doesn't care that His fancy play gym is gone and He has to roll around on a flattened box, playing with some sunglasses and a random plastic lid. Why not be happy with whatever we have in this moment? He doesn't care that we are leaving places and people behind. Why not focus on Now, on the sound of the birds in the trees and the warm breeze through the window and the amazing entertainment of our own toes? Really, so long as He has His most basic of needs covered and is with His loved and trusted family, He hardly cares what else goes on.
I have cleaned, sorted, padded, wrapped for our move. I have packed, labeled, planned, back-up planned for our trip. I have good-byed, thanked, and KIT promised many friends. Ok. But now? Now is the time to be like Mister, and let it all go. Now we set off on our next chapter, and take it day by day, moment by moment. Despite all of it, things will get lost. They will break. Vacation failures will happen and some friendships will fade. But we have our most basic needs covered, and we are all together. We really couldn't ask for more.
Of course, swimming, warm baths, The Magic School Bus, and a pizza party in our hotel room aren't bad bonuses at all.
People always say, "oh how nice! How nice that they pack for you! That saves you so much time and effort!" Yes. It is and it does. But.
I have learned from experience now, that sitting back with a cocktail as the (lowest bidders for the job) packers do it all for you, is a decision that will only necessitate a great many cocktails on the other end of that move. The packers are about speed; they see something, dump it in a box, move on. So if, for instance, you have a little box of pins in your sewing drawer, it will be all kinds of interesting unpacking the box they got dumped into when you get to the new place. Like your own welcome cactus in a box! Or if, for instance, you are me and you like things to be organized and so you put everything into little labeled boxes and baskets and such, you are going to be silently listing all the expletives you know when you see that the packers took aaaallllll the categorized, organized toys in the whole playroom, and dumped each box out together in one big box, and then put all your boxes in another box. Why? Why commingle the barbies with the trains? Why all the legos all mixed in with the monopoly game pieces and hundreds of puzzle pieces? Did I insult someone's mother? I mean, why? Imagine how fun it is to have a whole house to set up, and have to spend an entire afternoon sitting on the floor....playing puzzles. And jewelry. 20 little chain necklaces all in one giant knot. That will take two afternoons. If there is trash in the wastebasket, it's getting dumped in a box (with other stuff!) and packed. If there are wet washcloths hanging, you are getting a box of mold on the other end. And so. I have learned the importance of pre-packing. This time around, with J's help, I managed to get it all done in two (very long) days (and most of the night). Here are my tips for military movers:
1) Have a yard sale and/or donation cleanse first. I think it helps the transition to involve the kids. We went through all their stuff and made a pile of things that "someone else might love to have". On yard-sale day, I spread out two big blankets, gave them a cash box, a stool, and an box for a counter, and let them set up their "store". They spent half the morning working on their displays, putting shoes here and books there. They were in charge of setting prices, negotiating with buyers, collecting and counting money, and giving back change. The rule is, whatever money is made from the sale of their things, they get to keep. This is a pretty good motivation to let things go.
2) Go through all bottles of shampoo and such and either ziplock them or be sure those lids are closed and tight. The packers do not always care if the shampoo is open and upside-down.
3) Tiny things like needles, thumbtacks, paperclips, and jewelry have to be placed into a container that will not open. For jewelry, I fold each necklace or pair of earrings into a handkerchief; roll, place another in, roll, etc. to keep them padded and separate. Then I put the rolled handkerchiefs into a jewelry bag zip it up, and wrap it.
4)Movers wrap is my best friend. It's basically a ginormous roll of really strong saran wrap. All my little boxes and baskets, all the puzzles, and so on get wrapped up in that stuff. This time I wrapped an entire cabinet of little drawers. Because I am not separating dress-up shoes from tiaras all day in July. I would rather have the moving guy look at me funny. I explain in the beginning that if it's wrapped in plastic, it goes as is. Some packers hate me for it (takes up a lot more boxes), some love it (most of the job is done for them). But it's the difference between unpacking a room in one day, or taking a week to sort things out. I've even taken drawers out of dressers, wrapped them, and had them pack the drawers into boxes. When I get there, I just stick the drawers in and I'm done! It's easy to wash a drawer at a time and put a whole load back in one place, rather than re-sort everything.
5) Make signs. I empty a closet or two myself, then put everything I don't want packed in there and make a "do not pack" sign on the door.
6) Because things can be handled roughly, lost, or stored in uncontrolled conditions, go through and take out anything that is really special, or can't be replaced (like old film photo albums, little clay baby handprints, old family things, and a hard-drive with photos and videos), and pull it out. Usually we put them in our trunk and drive it to the new house ourselves, but since that would mean hauling it around for six weeks (and I have to admit I have a ton of old photo albums), we left it with a friend this time. We also had a generous friend collect and babysit our house plants until we can pick them up.
7)Anything you don't want dirty (throw pillows, sofas, anything) or that is really fragile, wrap yourself.
7) Do ALL the laundry, empty wastebaskets, wash ALL the dishes, and keep people from using them. So hard with little kids who are in the routine of throwing things away in certain places. And changing their outfits five HUNDRED times a day.
Not to mention, all the stuff in high cabinets or shelves has to be brought down, all the stuff on the walls taken down, swing sets and play houses dismantled, electronics unplugged and serial numbers listed, hardware labeled, etc.
So even though it truly is a huge service to have packers come and do the heavy work, it's not exactly a breeze, unless I want to pay for it later.
We arranged to have the Sisters stay late at school on those days to keep them out of harms way, and after the packers left I would move things around to make their room safe again.
Coming home and seeing all your stuff gone and a bunch of boxes in its place can be upsetting for little ones. To help ease the pain, we bend some of our rules during moving time. We let them watch a movie on a school night (bonus of keeping them entertained safely, away from towers of boxes that could topple if climbed), have popsicles, and stay up late for extra cuddles. I also gave them a sheet of "This box belongs to me" stickers to put on their boxes so we can find them right away when we get there.
And the last night, we got to go to a hotel with a swimming pool. Oooohhhh. Aaaaahhhhh.
So far Missy actually seems to be loving the adventure of it all, and until She collapses from the lack of naps at the end of the day is extraordinarily cheerful. Little One is very, very sad to leave friends behind, and to leave the familiar, and alternates between being happy and excited, sad and tearful, and moody and obstinate. Frankly I'm pretty much the same, so I get it. Moving is hard. It takes a lot of work and is, in every sense of the word, unsettling. The one I'm looking to as a role model in all of this is Little Mister. Mister has had some protesting over the disruption of His perfect schedule. But overall He is dealing with it all better than any of us.
He doesn't care about our stuff being boxed up, or whether it will arrive in one piece, or at all. Who cares about a bunch of stuff? He doesn't care that His fancy play gym is gone and He has to roll around on a flattened box, playing with some sunglasses and a random plastic lid. Why not be happy with whatever we have in this moment? He doesn't care that we are leaving places and people behind. Why not focus on Now, on the sound of the birds in the trees and the warm breeze through the window and the amazing entertainment of our own toes? Really, so long as He has His most basic of needs covered and is with His loved and trusted family, He hardly cares what else goes on.
I have cleaned, sorted, padded, wrapped for our move. I have packed, labeled, planned, back-up planned for our trip. I have good-byed, thanked, and KIT promised many friends. Ok. But now? Now is the time to be like Mister, and let it all go. Now we set off on our next chapter, and take it day by day, moment by moment. Despite all of it, things will get lost. They will break. Vacation failures will happen and some friendships will fade. But we have our most basic needs covered, and we are all together. We really couldn't ask for more.
Of course, swimming, warm baths, The Magic School Bus, and a pizza party in our hotel room aren't bad bonuses at all.
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