Moving homes isn't easy! Especially if employing hired labor or packers and movers is too costly . I was shocked to hear a quote for moving stuff here in Auckland.
My 3 year old is well conditioned to change. Since she is born we have shifted 2 homes and a country :D We are well in track of raising a nomad. But if you think, she is easier to move, think again. Poor thing, is a sentimental being. She gets attached to things easier than her over-practical mum. Just like her dad.
We shifted into a small apartment as soon as we came to Auckland, as a temporary makeshift till we find the real deal. The temporary makeshift turned into a cozy home for almost 7 months. The last two months spent in it were too cozy. We extended our lease out of sheer laziness of having to move stuff.
Finally we found our home,after a long search and many meetings with many real-estate agents. I tell you, I have more agents as friends than any others , in the process. They are the friendly kinds, for obvious kinds.
We are mostly city dwellers. I love apartment living. I am still not a suburb person. I cannot live in a house too close to the ground. But raising kids in apartments isnt a very welcome idea in the western world. Even though, it is more accepted but they would suggest having backyards and a garage for the kids to explore.
But I postponed the suburb house idea for now. I wanted a big apartment bang in the middle of the city and at a lesser rent. :D Now you know why I was going through so many homes. It is a difficult combination to achieve.
But we found it and the moving date was set earlier than I had planned.
By this time, the preschooler was very accustomed to our cozy makeshift. She would see the 'new' place but still want to go back to 'home'.
So then started my conditioning for the little one to transition from the old to new. It aint easy I tell you. Children are the most secure with routine and things they are used to. Change isnt a easy thing for the little minds.
Here are a few things I did with my 3 year old to enjoy the move and the new home:
My 3 year old is well conditioned to change. Since she is born we have shifted 2 homes and a country :D We are well in track of raising a nomad. But if you think, she is easier to move, think again. Poor thing, is a sentimental being. She gets attached to things easier than her over-practical mum. Just like her dad.
We shifted into a small apartment as soon as we came to Auckland, as a temporary makeshift till we find the real deal. The temporary makeshift turned into a cozy home for almost 7 months. The last two months spent in it were too cozy. We extended our lease out of sheer laziness of having to move stuff.
Finally we found our home,after a long search and many meetings with many real-estate agents. I tell you, I have more agents as friends than any others , in the process. They are the friendly kinds, for obvious kinds.
We are mostly city dwellers. I love apartment living. I am still not a suburb person. I cannot live in a house too close to the ground. But raising kids in apartments isnt a very welcome idea in the western world. Even though, it is more accepted but they would suggest having backyards and a garage for the kids to explore.
But I postponed the suburb house idea for now. I wanted a big apartment bang in the middle of the city and at a lesser rent. :D Now you know why I was going through so many homes. It is a difficult combination to achieve.
But we found it and the moving date was set earlier than I had planned.
By this time, the preschooler was very accustomed to our cozy makeshift. She would see the 'new' place but still want to go back to 'home'.
So then started my conditioning for the little one to transition from the old to new. It aint easy I tell you. Children are the most secure with routine and things they are used to. Change isnt a easy thing for the little minds.
Here are a few things I did with my 3 year old to enjoy the move and the new home:
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| The moving girl |
- I took her to all the potential apartments we were seeing. I made her part of the process this way. She got an idea that we would move eventually.
- I made her a part of the decision discussion. I asked her for her opinions. I asked her what she liked and disliked about the place. She liked being considered important and 'big' enough for that.
- Once we decided the place and got the keys, I took her to the place a couple of times before the actual move to decide where her toys would go and where her cot would be placed. (This was a luxury to get the keys early. Not always possible!)
- I got her involved in the packing. Right from buying the boxes, to assembling them and taping them. She even packed her toys and marked her boxes with her name. (Obviously, after she slept,we did reshuffle some stuff in the boxes)
- On the moving day, I got her a 'moving day' dress. She was also made in-charge of a small bag which had 'precious' stuff and she had to move it.
- I also made all her favorite food for that day. Loads of cheesy pizzas and burritos and pastas but all home made and freezed. So there was no need to rush for unhealthy restaurant foods.
- In the new house.I got her a basket of some books,a few activity pads and a couple of toys as a 'welcome' present as she came to the new place. This helps to keep her distracted while you move and put away stuff.
I am glad the move went great! I hear you when you say that a move is most stressful for the kids and especially if they are emotionally attached. My little one has just turned 3 when we moved to our own apartment from the rental once last December. He would call the rental home as Bangalore and would say - Let's go back to Bangalore. He missed his friends whom he would play all day. It took him almost 3 months to say that he didnt miss this particular friend. Otherwise we would hear her name almost every day and then every week. The little one looked forward to going to daycare because he seemed to have more friends to play with than at the apartment complex (This is still very new and only 4 families have moved in our block and none of them are around his age) and I know another move is coming this year and I am indeed worried how he will take that one...But like now, he has outgrown his feelings for the rental apartment we lived, his playmates there and has learnt to embrace his new surroundings....I am hoping he'll be okay with the other move too (fingers crosseD)
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