Moving house with a toddler - are we crazy?

Our new Kitchen, although the rest of the house needs work

Well hear we are again, one year later and on the move, it was just before Christmas last year that we completed the sale on our house, moved into a cottage my mother owns and now we are finally back on the housing ladder although this time with the luxury of being able to take our time to move into the new house although in a way I don't think this will make things any easier, in fact it will take longer and be a bit more disjoined than the first time around. Saying that we can get those little things sorted like having a plasterer to come and cover some artex left on one of the bedroom ceilings (who ever thought artex was a good idea I don't know) as well as being able to give each room a nice new coat of paint, we can take our time over sorting out labelling and making sure the right stickers are on the right boxes and hopefully de-stressing the whole thing, as well as hopefully de-cluttering our lives and getting rid of anything not helpful or useful.

Luckily children are far more flexible than adults, the little man loves the new house and cannot wait to be in, in fact he doesn't understand why his bed is not there already, even though we have just ripped up the carpet in his new bedroom. We have less than two weeks to paint, lay one new carpet, have some minor plastering and carpentry work done and move in and hopefully put up a christmas tree in some kind of organised fashion. We survived the first time around so I felt it would be a good time to share some tips on how to keep your sanity and move home with a toddler in tow.

The two boys shopping for paint and hard wear

Tips for moving house with a toddler

1. Include your children/toddler in the excitement of the move, most of the time they really do want to help and want to be involved and it should be seen as family thing. When it's safe to do so have them around, let them unpack their toys into their room, it also eases any moving anxiety they may have.

2. Pack healthy snacks - this is really important as you will be on the go, in fact I did a post earlier in the year about healthy snacks for toddlers. Main meals may go out of the window a bit and the odd takeaway during this time may just be the easiest solution but that doesn't mean you should go without something nutritious the rest of the time, such as apples, oranges, dried fruit, wholemeal sandwich etc

Healthy snacks on the go

3. Label Label Label - even the smallest boxes, don't label them at your own peril! When you have a small child running around you need to attempt to be as efficient and organised as possible and having secure and label boxes is the key for a smooth move, not only will you be able to find just what your looking for without losing the plot but you can also prioritise what needs to be unpacked first and what can wait until later. In our last move we had a whole bunch of stickers printed up and I cannot tell you how useful they were and still are, if you get a whole load printed at the same time you get a discount which is an added bonus. This will also help any friends, family or moving firms know what is in the boxes and where to put them and even if you have a whole load left over you could reuse them like we have for envelope return address or on business cards etc.

4. Enlist help from family and friends - this is not the time to turn down an extra pairs of hands because you will need them, even if it's someone to babysit for a few hours so you can get the tricker things done and out of the way. Also if you follow tip number 3 and label all your boxes clearly, including which room you want them to go to it really helps when it comes to family and friends who are helping out and you don't want to stop every 5 minutes to tell them where things go.

5. Celebrate together  - once the move is all done and dusted do something special together that marks your new journey as a family in new surroundings. Perhaps explore the local area and afterwards bake a cake and have a special meal, celebrate your achievement!

Keep the family at the heart of things

Any kind of house move is stressful, very stressful but it really is all worth it and the main thing is to not loose site of the people you love and why you are moving in the first place. Nothing is too big you cannot deal with, so try relax, chill out and it will all work it's way out in the end.