Moving over the holidays can be tough on everyone – especially for kids. This blog discusses ideas to keep the holiday spirit alive when moving homes with your kids during the holiday season.
Keep Everyone Involved
In times of uncertainty, having things to do will help keep wandering minds busy and fulfilled. You can get the whole family involved in the move, no matter how young they may be.
Young Children: While they may not be the most helpful, allowing them to play with the boxes, bubble wrap, and packing peanuts will keep them entertained – taking stress off you and maybe even bringing a few laughs to everyone else.
Middle Schoolers & Preteens: These age groups will likely be more resistant to the idea of moving homes, but with the right motivation, they can be a great help. Involve them in deciding what they want to keep and give away, give them choice in decorating their new rooms, and keep them in the loop with major plans.
High Schoolers & University Students: This age group will likely be the most against the new move, having to leave their lifelong friends and communities. Being close to adulthood, they often crave freedom and responsibility, and this is a perfect opportunity to let them have some. Give them independence in their packing and sorting (unless of course, they ask for help), allow them to visit with all the friends they want leading up to the move, and involve them in planning as much as possible. This will allow them to feel some sort of control in an oftentimes stressful situation.
Make Home Moving An Adventure
Often the scariest time of the move for kids is when they make the official move from their old home to their new home. Whether this is going to be via a road trip, plane ride, or a combination of the two, don’t pass up the opportunity to make it a core memory. Supplement road trips with plenty of fun stops, interesting detours, and kid-friendly activities.
Try creating a scavenger hunt, a fun road trip playlist, and bringing along lots of activities for kids to pass the time. Allow them to be involved in planning the trip, asking where they might want to stop or what they want to see. Take the detour to see some viral Christmas lights, it might add some time to the trip, but it will keep spirits up and make the home moving easier on everyone involved.
Create New Traditions
Home moving means lots of new things for kids and adults alike – new jobs, new schools, new places. To help ease some of the fear surrounding the scary “news”, try creating fun new traditions. These will help serve as a welcome distraction from the stress and create long-lasting memories that can be cherished for years to come. Some examples of new traditions could be:
Creating a New Christmas Eve Routine: Whether it’s visiting a local Christmas market, or simply watching a new Holiday Netflix movie, this will establish a new normal that you can easily carry on for years to come.
Finding a New Sunday Brunch Spot: Take the opportunity to discover local restaurants in the new area, hopefully finding the best eggs benny on the way!
Decorating Your New Home: Moving to a new home means new ways to decorate, and this is a great way to get the whole family involved. It’s a great chance to try new ideas, allow the kids to help with putting up the Christmas tree, find the perfect spot for those most treasured decorations, and make the new house feel like “home” as much as possible.
Looking To Move Your Home During the Holidays?
Matco’s Moving Solutions can help you with your local or long-distance move during the holiday season. We are a full-service moving company that is dedicated to delivering a stress-free and positive moving experience. We have locations in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Inuvik and over 55 years of moving experience and expertise.
Contact us today for a free quote for Calgary house movers, and to learn how Matco can be of value to you.