Moving Tips For Large Families

Having a large family is bliss. You are never bored since there are a lot of things going on at all times. However, such families require an additional level of organization when it’s time to do anything together. Everybody has to take part when it’s time for spring cleaning, home renovations, packing for a trip, and organizing a relocation. Today, we are going to focus on moving tips for large families.

Many hands make light work

This is something that every large family should know and practice. If everybody’s working together, then everybody relaxes at the same time, and they can enjoy their free time together. Nobody’s going to be frustrated for having to work all the time while the rest of the family sits and does nothing. Kids from larger families are usually taught to participate in family activities from an early stage of their lives. Moving is one such activity.

Surely, moving preparations are not one of the favorite things your kids will do during their Christmas vacation, but even this activity can be made fun. 

Make a plan – you can never start too early

When you have many people and their obligations, such as work or school to think about when making a plan for your relocation, you can never start too early. So, for instance, if a two-member family needs 2 or 3 months to plan their move, you should be prepared to make a plan at least 4 or 5 months before the actual date of your move. If we are talking about long-distance relocation, you might even need more time to arrange everything.

Make a family meeting and appoint the tasks

The adult members of your family are probably acquainted with the plan to move out of your current home and into a new place. Now you have to announce it to the young ones. Be prepared for any type of reaction – from thrill and anticipation to sadness and nostalgia, even anger. Kids’ emotions will depend on their age too. But it is very important not to hide anything from them. Relocation is stressful for us adults, let alone the little ones. Talk to your children before relocating, let them express their hopes and fears, and you will be able to deal with anything if you communicate properly.

Since there are a lot of things to be done before the moving van arrives, make sure that everybody gets their share of tasks. For instance:

• Kids can be in charge of decluttering their rooms, packing their toys, books, and props.
• Teenagers can clean and organize their rooms and pack their clothes for relocation. They can even help you pack many things around the house.
• Senior members of your family might find it difficult to clean and pack, but they can be the ones to take care of the children or cook for your family while you are packing, labeling, checking, arranging and doublechecking all over again.

Clean and declutter before you move

Nobody likes cleaning and decluttering, but this is something that just has to be done from time to time. Large families often tend to collect more stuff than they need. Moving preparation is the perfect time to get rid of all the unnecessary items. Some things can be thrown away, but there certainly are some pieces of clothing or some toys that can be donated or sold.

This might be the time to teach your children to be more compassionate

Your children probably do not need as many toys as they have. Let them know that there are some children who are not so lucky to live in abundance and discuss the possibility of donating.

Organize a yard sale

Moving preparations can be an opportunity to earn a dollar or two. Plus, making a yard sale will keep your older kids occupied while you take care of some other tasks. Such an event can be a great way for children to say goodbye to their friends and to their old neighborhood. In case you are moving in winter, this yard sale can be nice holiday fun for all.

Make an inventory list while packing – probably one of the best moving tips for large families

Since large families have more possessions than the smaller ones, packing and unpacking can easily turn into a nightmare. Make sure that everybody keeps track of their belongings by making an inventory list. The best advice you can give them is to make a list of the items packed and always put a number on a box before closing it and securing it. Naturally, the list that we mentioned should feature those numbers too.

Color-coding can also be one of the great moving tips for large families. Let every family member choose their color and mark their boxes by a marker in that color, or get the colored labels they can stick to their boxes.

Mark what goes where

Making an inventory list is important for the unpacking process. Knowing where a certain item is by just looking at a list will make your life so much easier when you move into your new home. But, do not forget that it is also important for moving company staff to know the order in which they should load the boxes. If they load them properly, they will be able to unload and take them to their final destination in no time.

Start packing from the least to the most needed items

When the time comes to start packing, the items that you do not need at the moment should be the first to go in boxes. Those that you use on a daily basis are the ones that you should leave for your box, or rather boxes, of essentials. Those would be:

• personal hygiene products that your family uses on a daily basis,
• medicine that they need to have at hand anytime,
• clean clothes (an outfit or two per each family member for the moving day),
• snacks and water to consume during the move,
• your children’s toys to keep them calm during the move,
• your electronics and chargers, 
• passports and personal documentation.

Moving tips for large families are the ones that can be easily applied to any family. What’s different is that large families have less space for mistakes when planning a relocation.

About the Author: 

Angie Sims used to work in the traveling industry for 6 years, and now she works in the relocation industry. For the last 3 years, she has been specializing in helping people with their domestic and international relocation. She is also a full-time mom and a part-time blog writer. From her own experiences, she writes about traveling and moving with children on her blog.