Deciding what to do with your kids upon moving day is a serious decision. You want to keep them safe and out of the way, and helping if possible. While the age of your children will determine the type of moving day tasks they can do, there’s something for everyone. So, gather the family for a meeting. It’s time to assign tasks that’ll keep your kids busy – and productive – upon moving day.
Take Care of The Backyard
It’s important to leave your current home in the same condition you expect to find your new home in. However, with the chaos that comes with moving day, it can be easy to overlook certain areas. The good news is, you have children to handle these tasks.
Assign each child different duties that pertain to the yard. Ask for the oldest to cut the lawn and pull the weeds, ask another to gather and pack the leftover toys, and assign the little one to water the flowers. Once they’ve finished the backyard, you can send them on to the front yard.
While this task isn’t vital to moving day, it’s a nice gesture and it’ll keep your children out of your hair. Win-win!
Collect the Garbage
The only thing worse than arriving at your new home with garbage left outside is finding garbage inside. The new homeowners don’t want to be welcomed to piles of garbage waiting inside the front door or on the curb side any more than you do. So, give your children the duty of taking care of the garbage. Ask them to pick up any litter found outside and to empty out the garbage from inside. When it’s time to start the moving truck, make it their job to do a quick run through of the house to gather any leftover trash. And don’t forget to take your garbage with you, so you can dispose of it properly when you get to your new home.
Clean the Rooms as They Get Emptied
Similar to the prior, the new homeowners don’t want to arrive to a dirty house. As such, every (empty) room should be swept clean prior to leaving the house. However, after a day of heavy lifting, cleaning is the last thing you want to do. Plus, you’ll be super eager to arrive at your new house.
So, assign this task to your children to do throughout the day. As each room gets emptied, they can tackle the space and gradually progress through the entire house. Once the moving truck is packed, you’ll be ready to go, sans cleaning delays.
Keeping the Family Pet Fed, Entertained and Walked
If you have a family pet, you have the extra task of trying to figure out what to do with them for the day. Just like your children who are too young to help, it’s important to keep them out of the way. So, combine the two and assign your little ones the responsibility of taking care of the family pet for the day. Let them know that it’s their job to feed, water, cuddle, walk, and play with the animal for the day. What child wouldn’t be excited to do that?
An excellent mantra to follow for moving with children is if they’re old enough to help, they should be doing just that! So, pack away the cell phones and video games, and assign your children some moving day tasks. It’ll keep the day moving forward while also keeping your children occupied. At the very least, they won’t be complaining about being bored. There’s plenty of tasks to go around.
