Thursday, the packers arrived to pack up all of our belongings. It was a team of 3, and they came prepared with all the boxes and packing paper anyone could ever want! They were amazing! In about 6 hours, they had our entire house packed and ready to go. We just hung out, stayed out of their way and relaxed. After several days of late nights purging, organizing, and getting things ready it was nice to just sit back and watch other people do the work for a change.
Prior to the packers arrival, I had spent several weeks purging through our stuff, getting rid of all the things we hadn’t touched in the 4 years we had been in our house. Then I organized our stuff into piles around the house. Books in one area, picture frames, games, movies, homeschool supplies – all in their own spot so the packers would pack similar things together.
The day before the packers came, we separated the things we were moving ourselves and put them in our room or loaded them in our van. These were things like our pictures, keepsakes, laptops, external hard drives (our photo backups!), important files and anything else that was not replaceable…just in case. We also included things we need to live on for the first couple of weeks.
We separated the Do-Not-Pack load even further. We had a couple bags with things we needed for the 2 nights we would spend in hotels on the road. Just the basic of basics since we’d be arriving late at night, sleeping, then hitting the road in the morning. A change of clothes for each of us, toiletries, pillows, Emily’s “must have to sleep” items, and supplies for the cat.
We also had suitcases and plastic boxes filled with things we would need for our 10 days in the extended stay hotel – more food, more clothes, books for Emily, even our printer so that Hubby could print out important papers or I could print things for Emily’s school.
Lastly, we packed clear plastic boxes with things that we would only need once we were in an apartment while we were waiting for the movers to deliver our stuff. Things like a toaster oven, microwave, more pantry food, pots & pans.
I had read advice about following the packers around and making my own detailed notes on the boxes so that I would know exactly what was in each one. I didn’t do that. Instead I welcomed the opportunity to relax for a change. Since we will be limited on space and storage, I know that we will need to unpack each and every box anyway so that we can get things put away. I figure I can see what’s in each box as I pull it all out. I’ll let you know later if I’m happy with my decision, but I suspect I will be.
Emily’s Safe Place
Another thing we did was set Emily up with a “safe place” for her to go. We knew it would be stressful having strangers in the home going through all of our stuff and moving it around, and we wanted to avoid any unnecessary anxiety for her. We had a lot of our “do-not-pack” items in our bedroom and closet, so what better place to put her? We created a little space for her in the closet complete with books, stuffed animals, a blanket and the iPad. We told her that she was welcome to be out with us or watching the packers if she wanted, but that she also had this space to go anytime she wanted to get away from it all. After checking out the packers, and watching a little bit – she spent the majority of the day in the closet playing and reading. It was crowded, but she was surrounded by her favorite things so she loved it!
This is what we did all day while the packers worked hard
What things looked like when they left
I wasn’t sure if they would just tape up my “Drawers ‘O Stuff”, or empty them. As you can see, they emptied every last one of them. That’s where I had all of our school/craft supplies all neatly organized – scissors, paint, glue/tape, markers, pipe cleaners, math supplies, science supplies, sensory items – all in their own place. I guess I’ll be redoing that in a couple weeks.
All in all, it was a very smooth process. I won’t lie and say it was easy because it was a lot of work leading up to this day, but it went smoothly. I was very impressed with the packers and the way they worked, I was thrilled to sit back and watch for a change, and I was so proud of Emily and the way she handled it all like a champ!
Moving Day details coming soon!