Moving is a pain. You know that, so why make it harder and more stressful than it is? You may think that just getting your stuff packed in boxes is hard enough to think about, but maybe you should look at what happens if you don’t consider what happens when you arrive in your new home. Your new home is your new life. Don’t make entering on it any more difficult than it is. Label your boxes!
Keep at least a basic inventory of what is in each box. Doing this will allow you the keep track of each numbered box and what’s in it easily and quickly.
Consider what happens if you don’t pack things together. Sure, all of us find bits and pieces of things that we have to throw into a box at the last moment. But if you don’t leave too much to chance, you can pack the kids’ stuff together and keep where they can get at it right away– in their own room. The family dog, who will be disoriented enough by the moving about, can have its favorite plaything and food. The kitchenware will be in the kitchen and the bedroom stuff will be in the bedroom. That’s a lot of time saving right there.
Keep your family mementos and fragile things together. A marked box will allow the movers to treat it with more care. And so will you.
Marking boxes is a snap if you put some thought into it. Some suggestions are as follow. Use a heavy, black felt tip marker with quality ink and a wide line.Between the two the movers and you will have no trouble spotting what’s what. Most people need some things immediately upon arrival so put them together in a separate box and mark it well, perhaps using a different colored ink or even distributing tell-tale markings on the box– exclamation points, say. Get some large “Fragile” stickers and paste them all over boxes that contain breakable items.
These are simple suggestions for saving misery in the midst of what can be a chaotic, difficult time for you and your family.