MOVING WITH TWO LITTLE ONES
Apologies for disappearing there.....again. We've been busy. Not watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians busy, I'm pleased to report I've kicked that nasty habit :p, though in fairness like any good tv junkie I've swapped it for something else. Sons Of Anarchy, like ALL seven seasons. If you're like me and was clearly on another universe when this show aired for like seven years and missed it, watch it. Trust me, watch it.
Anyway I'm totally rambling and going off topic, we've been really busy, like real life busy. WE MOVED HOUSE! Now when they say moving house is up there with one of the most stressful things you can do in life they weren't bloody kidding. I swear after our move I feel like I'm allergic to stuff. Seriously, why do we all insist on needing so much stuff in our lives?!
I hate my post-hoarding self. That self that thought it was important to keep every card that has ever been given to us. Every receipt, as come on, that £15 H&M top receipt from 2007 is totes important, right?! Every bit of furniture I've ever owned sat languishing in the garage, because well you never know when you might one day live in a home that requires three coffee tables, three extra mattresses and two broken wardrobes. Like. Really.
What was particularly stressful about our move is the fact we weren't moving into our next home straight away. Our home is currently being built and won't be ready until the end of November. Therefore packing our home up required sorting what would be going into storage, what would go to Mikey's family for three weeks whilst we waited for our temporary rental to become available, and then what we would need for the rental (note a change in season too during this time, oh joy, winter brain on in summer) that would then be stored in Michael's sister's garage for the time being. I can now laugh when I reread this but at the time, surrounded by all our stuff destined for different destinations I thought I was losing the plot. My days were filled with sorting everything out, as paying storage on stuff we actually didn't need is well, just stupid. So daily I felt like I was drowning in stuff, making more of a mess than actual progress.
But here we are, unbelievably, as mid pack I thought I'd never see this point. Ever. That part is over and we're currently in what feels like no man's land. Closed one chapter but not yet started the next. I don't think it's actually set in that we've left our home never to return, although we were completely ready to leave that place will forever be written on my heart. The place we brought our babies home.
Gahhh makes me realise how much of a home bird I've become, and how ready I am to build a new nest for my babies. A home I swear won't have too much stuff in (she says oh so confidently).
So tips for moving, especially if you have little ones.....
As soon as your house goes on the market start sorting through your stuff. If you have a quick sale you can feel happy and smug with yourself for being so organised and if you have to wait a little bit longer to sell you'll be happy and smug with yourself for being so organised (see what I did there?)
NOTE: I did not do said above and my sanity paid dearly.
Be brutal. This is the time to really assess what you really need in your life. Clothing, furniture, everything. I cant recommend enough having the mindset of would you pay storage for this item?. Regardless if you're going into storage or not. It's been such a good thing for me to let a lot of stuff go. Nostalgia can live in the heart, it doesn't need to be hanging at the back of my wardrobe or collecting dust in a garage. Sell or donate. You'll feel better for it, and when you get to your new home you won't have that stuff rotting in a box because well, you don't really need it or have anywhere for it to go right now.
Say yes to any help you can get, because trust me, you're going to need it, especially with childcare.
Avoid big huge boxes for packing. Smaller boxes are soooo much easier to pack and carry. Label the box as soon as it's filled, what's in it and where you would like it put in the new house. Take it from me even if you only leave the box for half hour unlabelled you won't have a clue what you packed in it when you go back to it. Mix all your soft furnishings and towels etc with your heavier items. A very simple and somewhat obvious observation you would think, right?! Yep, apparently not for me to start with.
Wine and Sons of Anarchy as reward time. I tell ya, a bit of Jax Teller and your packing woes are put on hold for 45 minutes ;)
