Moving is hard as it is. But moving with kids puts it on a whole different level. And if you think that you won’t have a hard time moving if your children are older then I’m sorry to disappoint you. It doesn’t matter what age are your children because you are are always going to face some challenges. The only thing you can do is limit those challenges to a minimum. And one of the best ways to do that is to make moving fun for kids. Let movers West Covina CA take care of your relocation and try these ideas for making relocation fun for kids!
Getting help from the professionals
If your moving budget allows it, it’s always a good idea to hire a moving company when you’re moving. Even more so when you’re moving with kids. In those cases, professional movers will be heaven-sent. Depending on which moving services Los Angeles offers and which ones you choose, your relocation can be a piece of cake.
If you hire moving experts to organize your move, pack your belongings, deliver them to your new home, and then unpack them then you practically won’t have anything to do yourself. And this is the best-case scenario when you’re moving with kids. The main pro if you do this is that you will have all the time in the world to dedicate yourself to your children and to making relocation fun and bearable for kids. Whereas, the main con is that it will cost you more the more moving services you take. But if you don’t have relatives or friends who can take care of your kids while you’re packing and doing other moving-related tasks then it might be worth considering. After all, it can easily happen that you’d pay a babysitter as much as you’d pay for all the moving services that’ll make your life easier.
Stick to the routine
Making relocation fun for kids is one way to go. And even though it might be the best one, you still need to keep one thing in mind. Namely, you have to make sure that you don’t break their routine. Relocation is surely going to affect your kids’ routine, but your goal is to lower that effect. This is especially important for younger children if you want them to stay healthy. But don’t underestimate the importance of the routine of older children. Even older children often fear the unknown and having their routine can help them deal with the situation easier. This familiarity will bring comfort and consistency in the midst of such a big change that relocation is.
Making relocation fun for kids – decisions, decisions
Now, the best way to make moving fun for kids is to include them in the process. And yes, I mean to let them make decisions related to your upcoming relocation. Because the worst thing you can do is to exclude them from probably the biggest events in their life. When you think about it, they are probably not the ones that have decided to move and chosen a new city for their home. Most likely, it was your decision as an adult. And if you take away decision making from them then you’ve basically taken away any sense of control over the situation that they might’ve had.
I’m not saying let them make grownup decisions or crucial decisions. No one is asking you to let them decide which house you’ll buy or which residential movers to hire. But have a little faith in them, will you? Because there are so many small decisions that they can make and that will be beneficial both for you and them. And there are even more tasks that they can complete and by doing so both help you and get a feeling of usefulness. They’ll also feel included and important and not to mention that they’ll also have fun doing that! Here are a few examples to see what I mean:
- let them choose which room will be theirs
- have them draw how they want their room to look like
- ask them to declutter their belongings
- let them be responsible for packing the essentials for the road
Can responsibility make relocation fun for kids
By giving them a chance to make decisions and complete some tasks you’re giving them a sense of responsibility. They will feel much better if they are the ones in charge of their personal belongings. And hopefully, they’ll have fun doing that. And even if they don’t have fun, there’s a big chance that they will start looking forward to moving to your new home.
If you feel like giving them full control is not good for them or that they won’t be able to handle it, you can always set some limitations. Or you can give them a few options and then let them pick one. It will still have the same effect and it’ll make moving fun for them.
So, for example, if you give them the task to declutter their belongings and you see that they have trouble doing it, there are a few things you can do. You can, for example, tell them that you’ve rented a storage unit and that they can put some items. But the catch would be that they can’t part with them and the lack of space in your new home. Or you can make a deal with them that they should set aside all of the items that they haven’t used in a month. But if it happens that they need them once you move, tell them that you’ll buy them new ones. So, the key to making relocation fun for kids is to give them a sense of control and to include them!