Moving to Little Rock--It's A Family Affair

By Julie DeLong, A-1 Freeman Moving Group 

Small Children

Toddlers as well as preschoolers usually are not a great deal of help, but they are so perfectly entertained simply by empty boxes, rolls of tape, and bubble wrap that you really do not mind. Offer a four-year-old free rein with packing materials and you can now blow through their belongings before they get uninterested and start consuming the packing peanuts. Seriously, give your littlest children a carton a bit of tape and go to work. Inquire which toys they want to donate to buddies or share with other kids they do not know--it is a small item that helps them feel as if they may have a little say in the proceedings.

Elementary Age

If you have youngsters in this age category, they are in the ideal place--old enough to be hard workers, although not so old that they've solid sentiments. Here are some duties a third grader can easily complete.

· Look through their belongings and select what to give away.

· Put cartons together, organize packing materials, place color-coded labels on boxes.

· Put giveaway stuff in bags or cartons.

· Help empty closets and drawers to get ready for the professional movers.

This is a good age range to talk about contributing old games and toys to charitable groups, as well as to discuss the reasons you choose the ones you do. If the non-profit you choose possesses a thrift retail outlet, take your youngsters in and allow them to check out what it looks like.

Junior High School

Pre-teens and also teenagers are hypothetically competent at truly pitching in, however it may take a bit of imagination to make that happen. These kids are leaving buddies, sports activities, and school, and could be more motivated in small-time sabotage rather than actually entering into the swing and packing up the basement. If you need to turn to bribery to get them agreeable, it's sort of a small cost to pay.

· Offer to allow them to choose the color and furniture for their new rooms.

· Get their insight on what they will really like to have in a new house. Certainly, they ought to be practical, however inform them their views matter. Find out about back yards (trees, playhouses, area for a swimming pool), basements, recreation rooms, as well as other stuff that may be on their wish lists. If you view houses online, show them what you prefer along with what you do not--and explain the reasons why.

· Sell unwanted belongings and split the profits. Consider various selling sites to understand which ones are the best. Most web pages require that sellers be 18, so you will need to set the accounts up and manage the listings, but your teens could take the pictures, upload them, and prepare the descriptions.

· Go the garage sale option and allow them to arrange the tables and place price tags on stuff.

High School and College

These are the difficult years--it is tough to move at any age, but it is extremely difficult for high schoolers. The great thing is that although they're fairly sad, they really are of sufficient age to do some hard work while they sulk. Here are some tasks your teenagers can do to pitch in.

· Help with disassembling pieces of furniture.

· Smile and let them embellish their bedrooms completely like they really want. They're leaving soon enough, and you can always paint over their choice.

· Get up in the attic and get stuff down--teenagers are much more nimble compared to their parents (and the majority of professional movers won't enter in the attic space).

· Drive loads of items to the thrift outlets or even the garbage dump. Buy their gas and junk food in the process.

· Set up trips back to visit close friends or proceed to arrange for buddies to come visit.

· Permit them to sell their own things online if they are over 18 years old and keep the profits.

· If you have a yard sale, allow them to manage the cash and the internet sales.

Be truthful--if you've got children in college, it is totally likely that you have already converted that bedroom into a workout room or even an office. When your college students are home on a break before you move to Little Rock, make sure they sort through all their old bins of stuff--you'll still have to move them, however possibly they will remove enough to cut back on the quantity.