I never thought that losing most of my belongings in Hurricane Katrina would be somewhat of a blessing. That’s until I started thinking about my move back home in June and the packing I have to do. It’s bad enough that I have too many books to count and Tyler has enough toys to keep him busy for a year, if I had to worry about packing household items, well..
The last time I had to pack was seven years ago when I bought my house. At the time I had been living in the same apartment for ten years, so you can imagine I had a lot of stuff. I still remember how I tired I was before during and after the move. At least this time I won’t have to worry about packing much, I plan to replace all the household items I lost after I move and our furniture will be delivered directly to my house. I like moving, like the new adventure aspect but I hate the actual packing and unpacking aspect.
“There is nothing so exhausting– physically, mentally and emotionally — as moving”, says Odette Pollar in, Take Back Your Life and I tend to agree with her. There are a number of things you can do before the move to assure that it goes as smooth as possible. Pollar offers tons of tips in her book including the following:
(1) Start planning early- at least two weeks before the move date.
(2) Everyone in the family should have a role in the move. Assign tasks with due dates and post where all can see.
(3) Collect boxes far in advance of the move.
(4) This is the time to sort and throw away things that you don’t use or need or clothes that you can’t wear.
(5) Use newspaper for filling up space but not for wrapping because it stains. Instead use plain wrapping paper, bubble wrap or foam.
(6) Label each box with room name and general description of the contents.
(7) Support you back during packing and unpacking.
(8) General time frames to keep in mind:
Eight weeks before: notify magazines, newspapers and other subscriptions with change of address.
Six weeks before: get school records transferred.
Four weeks before: contact the post office with change of address.
Two weeks before: have your car serviced and arrange for any work that has to be done in the new house.
One week before: arrange for the connecting and disconnecting of utilities, telephone, cable and other services.
The author ends with this one important tip, “be prepared to live in and around boxes for a long time.” So if you are planning a move soon, now is the time to start preparing and getting organized so that things go as smooth as possible.
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