We've done quite a bit of moving, and all with young children. I wish there was a magic formula on how to avoid stress and chaos, but it's part and parcel of the process. I guess that's one piece of advice I can offer: don't expect it all to go smoothly and quietly! EXPECT some distress and keep a sense of humor. It WILL pass, and learning is inevitable.

I have found that getting rid of things we won't need is a good use of my nervous energy. And do employ kids and family to help in this process! It's a wonderful feeling to clear out useless stuff to charity, and NOT have the movers haul it all to your next location.

When the time comes (the day the movers arrive) pack one or two boxes yourself that will ease your transition to your new house. For us, it always included the coffee maker and coffee, some silverware, some plates and glasses, the toaster oven, an alarm clock, computer essentials, a lamp and lightbulbs. We packed a couple of dufflebags with clothing and toiletries for all. We acted as though we were headed out on vacation.

Buy lots of Sharpie markers and label all the boxes with as much detail as possible. "Kitchen" is meaningless when you are searching for something in particular.

Submit your Change of Address forms at the Post Office, but change your magazine addresses yourself online or by mail. Email makes it soooo easy to inform your entire address book of your new location.

Others will offer more good tips, but I hope this helps somehow. Try to remember that being perfect in this process is probably not possible, so you might as well roll with it!

Best of luck!

OK, here goes - my two cents :)

1. Remove any valuables (papers, coins, whatever) that you don't want the movers to touch and put them someplace safe out of the house where you can access them quickly.

2. Label anything of value that you specifically want them to pack VERY carefully, (lamps, any antiques, etc.) and take a picture of each item with a date on it (before) so if there is damage you have BEFORE and AFTER pictures to show the moving co.

3. It's tedious, but you really should inventory everything you have so that you know you get everything after you move. If you can't do that, go around and take pictures of everything. Open drawers, cabinet doors, etc. Again, you're creating a trail/evidence in case something doesn't make it to your destination.

If the movers are taking your things directly to your new destination (and not combining your things with another load) then you shouldn't have any problems. But if the truck it making a stop someplace else in-between, you really want to make sure you know what all is going on that truck.

We've had good experiences (nothing broken or damaged) with our movers in the past but I did take photos and inventoried things. I've also seen some pretty nasty damage done by careless moving employees.

Good luck!

Great advise. The only thing I can add is if you have anything that means more to you than the money it's worth if it gets broken pack it yourself and take it with you. Even the most careful professional service has broken things before.
Good Luck!

We have moved across states several times with our last move completed at the end of February. I agree with everyone and have one additional piece of advice. Make sure to keep all the financial documents you might need for each of your real estate transactions, documents for school (if applicable), etc.. When a move is approaching, I begin storing all my real estate transaction documents, financial documents, school papers, etc... in a plastic storage bin that's easily transported in the family vehicle enroute to the new home.

Safe travels

Maybe you mentioned this in another post, but are you moving far away? Will you be within driving distance to your new home or will you have to take an airplane? We moved across country twice now and that requires additional planning.

I think the posters above covered things well. You are probably already aware that your insurance coverage should be replacement value in case things get damaged or go missing. The movers will probably require you to identify "high value" items that will require special packing and handling, and they will be marked as such on the outside of the box. Taking photos is a great idea.

In our move, every box and item was numbered. Whenever anything went into our new house, I would check it off the big inventory sheets. That was my sole job--and to tell them which room the box would be going into. It made it easy to identify which boxes had gone missing--and we did have a few unfortunately.

I hate to scare you, but if possible, have a working and monitored alarm system at your new house, and set it every night during the move. That saved us big time. (We saw a van parked across the street during our move and I had even mentioned it to our movers. The next night, before we had moved in, someone broke into our house. Thank goodness the alarm scared them off.)

Don't forget to have plenty of drinks on hand for the movers, and offer to bring in lunch for them. They will appreciate it. Good luck in your move!

This sounds crazy, but TAKE OUT THE TRASH before the movers arrive - they just might pack it! No kidding - they will pack EVERYTHING! You may ask that they not pack sharp objects without wrapping them, too. They put scissors in the craziest places.

If you have kids, let them color on the boxes from their room. They love to see their "stuff" come off the truck at the new house, and it keeps them out of your hair for a little while!

Cantmakeadecision is absolutely correct about the trash. And in that same vein, empty the sugar from your sugar bowl. (Can you imagine my shock and disgust upon unpacking a full sugar bowl?--one that had been in storage for months no less? Yuch!)

That reminds me of more things: Make sure they take the ink cartridges out of the computer printers before shipping.

Talk with them about how they'll handle lightbulbs which are very fragile. Also ink pens.

Our guys meticulously wrapped pens and pencils, but didn't individually wrap each piece of our fragile china. Go figure.

Before the movers leave, do a walk-through of your house and backyard to make sure that nothing is left behind. Ours left some stuff behind the bathroom door that we didn't find until later. And the legs to our outdoor table just disappeared. (What is it with me and patio furniture?)

First of all have a garage sale this weekend (or if you don't want to take the time then pack it all that you don't want and donate it).
Then like somebody mentioned earlier, get a big rubbermaid tub and put all the valuables in it. Jewelry and documents, bills, birth certificates. Then that tub goes with you in your car. You are responsible for it.
We are currently moving our business across town. I gave one tub to each person so they can put whatever is important on or in their desk and they pack it and take it with them to their new office.

Also, don't get sentimental. I know it will be hard but you have to throw away a lot of things. You don't have time to look at every little drawing from your kids. It's easier said than done though.
When I moved I packed everything myself. I also had a contract in four days.
Good luck. If anything is very important to you, then pack it and take it in the car.

My moving company told me to take pictures of my antiques and peices of furniture that were more expensive. It's your proof that it does(did) exist, and the condition it was in before it was moved.

Also take out the movers insurance as your homeowners insurance will NOT cover the cost of anything lost or broken. It will be worth the extra few $$$.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate all of the insight and advice.

We are flying. The cars are being transported the same time as our household. So whatever we take has to fly with us. Valuables and our dog have been a big worry to me. I feel confident I have the dog taken care of. We are flying Continental and their Pet Care service sounds like the best option. That's a whole other story tho!

We are going to take Sunday to go room by room and prep for movers. Thanks for all the tips, I need 'em. :D

I know this is a very stressful time....but, congratulations!

The night before we got on the road for our recent move I actually had to go out and buy toothbrushes and toothpaste! Couldn't find them anywhere. I suggest packing a suitcase of toiletries and living out of that for a few days before the movers come. That way you'll already have pulled those "daily" items you need to survive.

Having a yard sale will be very difficult right now. Even getting stuff to Goodwill is time-consuming. If a friend offers to help ("What can I do for you?") ask her to drive a carload of donations to the drop-off.

I also did a lot of Freecycling, but that can be problematic if you don't have a lot of time. The closer we got to moving day, the weirder the people seemed to be! I swear I had a stripper come to get some cleaning supplies the week we left!

I was good about getting lunch and snacks for the packers on the first two days. But on the actual moving day, I blanked out about cold drinks. We bought sandwiches but forgot the cooler and had guys in and out of the kitchen getting water all day. Later, I slapped myself on the head. Again, if anyone offers to help out, maybe you can ask them to show up with a cooler of cold drinks or at least just remind you. You'll be amazed at how some of your brain cells will already be on that plane! :-)

I was actually surprised at how little there was for me to do when the packers were in the house working. I had to be available for questions but other than that, the challenge was to just stay calm and stay out of the way. I used my laptop as a distraction.

No matter what you think you'll remember about what is packed where, you won't. Is the company also paying for unpacking? I have yet to unpack as all my stuff is in storage 'til the new house is built. I sometimes wonder if it is better to unpack myself and deal with it slowly or have the movers do it and be forced to deal with everything sooner. I hear stories about people who, four years later, still have boxes they haven't unpacked. IMO, those should go to Goodwill.

As for the ache in the stomach and numbness...you'll get more numb and probably feel it less with each passing day. I celebrated my birthday two days before we left, in an empty house, and can barely even remember it now... Very sad, but you just keep going and eventually it is over.

So, good luck to you all, including the pooch. I'll be looking forward to hearing you made it safely to your new home.

Congratulations on your quick sale! Unusual these days.

We moved three times last year and did almost all of our own packing. I only have a thing or two to add to what others have written.

We kept a clipboard with a numbered list of boxes and their contents. This was my daughter's idea and at first I thought it was unnecessary, but it saved us so much time on the other end. The movers' inventory is a different thing. But - it might be more difficult to do this if you're having everything packed for you. At least write on the outside of each box the room it came from.

My favorite and funnest thing that we did, after many many trips to the GoodWill and Salvation Army (no time or inclination for garage sales) was that during the last few days, we would put things, a few at a time, out in the front yard with a FREE sign hanging on the tree above them. *Everything* we put out was taken, by neighbors, friends and strangers. (Except for my pile of Martha Stewart Living magazines. I don't know what happened there.) Anyway, it was very gratifying for us and fun to peek out at folks looking through the free stuff.

I moved EIGHTEEN times before our current home (we've been here 13 years). My simple system;

As you pack, label each by by room AND priority. For example;

Kitchen-\
Priority #1-would contain coffee maker, coffee and filters, toaster, etc.

Priority #2 would be items you would be likely to use within a couple of weeks.

Priority #3 would be occasionally used items (think T'giving, Christmas, etc.)

Master bedroom-same idea, office clothing #1, work around the house clothes #2,social apparel #3, etc.
Bdr #2 & Bedr #3 and so on.

I also used colored tape on each carton, Blue for Basement, Red for main floor, Yellow for 2nd story, so that at a glance, we know which story the carton belonged which was a HUGE help!

Hope this gives you ideas.

This is a wonderful thread of advice. A few things I can add from 25 years as a Realtor--coordinate utilities transfer through your agent. It's truly a not unmajor snafoo when you go to do the pre-settlement walkthrough and there is no electric and no water, etc. I normally advise sellers to have the utilies and insurance kept in their name until midnight the day of settlement and to get confirmation before settlement that the new buyers accounts are in place. This way nobody has reconnect fees or is out of power at key times.
Another thing is to make sure the home warranty/manuals and garage door openers are where they cannot be packed by the movers. This happens countless times.
I have had several extra-thoughtful sellers leave soda/juice/bottle of champagne in the fridge and a nice note on the island welcoming the buyers. A list of service people you have used and feel comfortable with can be a godsend for the buyer. One amazing seller I worked with recently left all of the above, plus a container of fish food for the buyer's children to feed the habitants of the lovely backyard pond. The buyer was in tears at the thoughtfulness.

I have moved six times, each time with movers packing us and hauling everything off to our new destination. I have, like others, had trash moved, coffee pot with grounds in it, and more!

One trick we have used everytime, is to put everything that we plan to take with us personally in a bathroom. Put a "Do Not Pack" sign on the door. This eliminates something getting packed that you don't intend to. Also, it forces you to not leave too many things for you to have to take with you, as a bathroom isn't a big room!
Good Luck. I have not moved in ten years, and I need another move, just to get rid of junk!

Having done a few moves because of the military, you've gotten some GOOD advice. I have one more to add:

If you have children that will be attending school right away when you are moving in, be sure that their lunch boxes, school bags/backpacks, etc., are part of YOUR move. Put them in with the coffeemaker in your Priority #1's. I speak here from experience - though it's been 16 years since we last moved from one house to another, the memory of forgetting to withhold my children's lunch boxes or lunch bags is a great one. They did not go to school on the day we moved, even though I was not changing their school. I had planned to bring them to school the next day (even though I had taken the day off to try to unpack some boxes), but no matter what I did, I couldn't find their stuff. They went to a private school with no hot lunch program. In retrospect I probably could have gone to the store and bought a bunch of junk and put it in a bag, but that wasn't me. Instead, I made them help unpack - not easy for (then) an almost-5 and an almost-6 year old girl! (Now 21 and 22.)

Also, and this may sound silly, but withhold your camera from the packing. Keep one with you and take photos here and there of the boxes, packers, etc. Just last summer, I started a scrapbook, and wished that I'd had more "before" pictures of the house. I found some of the kitchen, but hadn't taken any of the moving-in process.

DonnaR/CA

I haven't had professional movers but once, and overall it was a great experience. Much much less stressful than packing everything ourselves and having friends carrying out my furniture without the proper dolley's and furniture protection covers.

I had to laugh when one poster said they will pack everything - it's almost like a giant vacuum cleaner. I had my purse hanging on the door knob of the bedroom, on the inside, so you couldn't see it. They packed my purse. It took us 20 minutes to find the box on the truck that was from that bedroom and locate my purse! I'm just glad I realized it before they pulled away.

I also would strongly suggest you purge any item you haven't used in a while - don't take stuff you don't need to your new house.

Congratulations on your quick sale. In addition to what has been suggested, remember to get a copy of your children most recent school records, especially if they have an IEP, 504 or any special services. It is much easier to register when the receiving school has something to use before getting records from the previous school.

Wow, this is awesome! Thank you.

Today we are having a combined birthday party for my boys. For our oldest's b-day we were in the midst of staging and selling and didn't have time to do a party and we'll be gone for my little guy's - so today is the day we get all their friends together for one last big blast.

I'll start on my moving check list tomorrow. Good news is that we have a short coordination meeting on Monday and the actual packing doesn't start til Tuesday. I was so excited when I found that out. One more day helps a bunch.

We are pretty lean in the stuff and clutter and extra clothing department, but you guys have me thinking I need to go thru one more time to thin out as much as possible.

We are moving to the hotel Monday night and everything that stays with us will be moved there so it will not get packed up.

The buyers are already having packages sent here which kind of irks me. It's not their house yet and I really don't need an extra box to deal with!!! I'm having the realtor pick it up. Also, they've had a fencing company out to mark utilities and measure and the supervisor tells me they will be starting on Monday. I said, no, I don't think so because it's not their house until next Friday afternoon!

I'm thrilled that they are excited about getting the house and I am trying really hard to focus on how quick and easy this whole thing has come together, but I'm kinda feeling pushed out. I was feeling rushed by their specified close date any way.

Funcolors,

You'll probably want to put aside things like jewelry, money, check books, passports, and small electronics to be carried on the plane. So think ahead to where those things will be while you're at your house packing. Not sure you want to leave it all at the hotel.

Not sure what size dog you have, or what size carrier you'll be using, but when we moved our gerbils (yes gerbils) the airline people pointed out a design flaw with the carrier, easily fixed with twist ties, so bring some with you just in case. You use the twist ties instead of or in addition to the screws which tend to pop out, if that makes any sense.

Finally, as you go through the airport, make sure you do bag checks and bag counts constantly. We had quite a number of carry-ons to keep track of.

Good luck!

Forgot to mention one of our biggest mistakes. We completely forgot to put aside our tax returns and they were packed up and put into storage. We had a little problem when it came time to apply for our loan when we bought our house. It wasn't the end of the world but would have been easier to have the tax returns and other financial documents with us and not in storage.

Also, most of our things went into storage, but a few key boxes were going to be moved to our temporary housing. We bought neon post-its and taped them to designate the key boxes. They were placed in the truck separately and made it much easier for everyone to keep track of.

Funcolors, congrats on such a fast sale. That in itself is stressful.

My one suggestion is to pack one open me first box. Put in it sheets, towels, shampoo, paper plates, forks, etc. so you can have a place to sleep and something to eat off until you get every thing unpacked. Unless of course they are unpacking for you.

I have never had movers pack for me but on my last move my yougest dd was 11 months old and it was stressful when they were taking things out and didn't pack certain things like we had said we wanted. They were suppose to crate our dining table base as it was stone and new. The glass was suppose to be wrapped in something and a few other things. When they were ready they gave me the list to sign on they put for all furniture as scratched, marred, nicked which of course I didn't see until after and the stuff was all a few months old and nothing wrong. They did that to cover their butts. All the other movers went around with me and stuff that was scratch, etc. they pointed out.

Good luck with your move and don't worry because everything will work out. Are your kids looking forward to it?

Put a roll of toilet paper *or two* in the "unpack me first" box.....

You can file a change of address online.

Here is a link that might be useful: USPS Change of Address

Pack a pair of scissors in one of your checked bags so that you can open the "unpack me first" box.

The only thing I would have to add (and maybe it's not applicable) is about the new house. If you are having a refrigerator delivered, and if you have hardwood, make sure that the movers have some sort of hard covering on the floor. I think plywood is used.

Our movers made a mess of our kitchen floors after I specifically told the moving manager that I wanted the floors protected.

Make sure the cellphone AND charger are in your luggage and not in the moving stuff.
Keep a old phone book of your old hometown in case you need to call for copies of records or to cancel something you forgot about.
PACK yourself a box with things you absolutely will need in the first few days in the new place. Give that box to the movers last!
Hide your luggage or that will be packed up and moved.
Best thing is to take and empty one closet and then tape over the door like a police scene,
IF you can get a few friends willing to help "watch" over the movers you will never regret it.
Generally you've got several people in the house all packing different rooms. It helps if you can have a dear friend in there watching them making sure they pack things correctly and completely and that them mark the boxes clearly.
Box cutters, a cheap set of tools and some other misc can easily be picked up at a Dollar type store AND it gives you a chance to explore your new neighborhood.

Not sure the ages of your kids but it would be smart to pack them backpacks with plenty of stuff to do and some snacks. Airlines GIVE you nearly nothing these days. Make sure special blankets, pillows and stuffed animals needed for sleeping are packed in the suitcases.

Your attitude is going to trickle down to the kids. So if you can manage to keep it light and fun they will pick up on that. Moving isn't something to fear but an adventure wanting to happen.

When you get to the new place make sure not to spend all your time unpacking and getting moved in. Take time to get to know the neighborhood and do a few fun things with the kids. It makes a big difference in everyones attitude.

For the dog. On his collar write your cellphone number in marker. If he/she should get loose and someone finds him that number can be your best chance of getting him back if he doesn't have a chip. Even with a chip lots of folks only look for a number to call.