Moving with 7 kids, two adults and an dog on death's doorstep

The countdown has fully begun.

Nine days and we will be throwing larger items into the truck and shoving as much into the minivan as we can to get moved out of my place and into Dave’s.

I worry about my computer making the 15 minute drive. (I really love my computer)

And what I will lose for months in a random box.

However, my biggest concern in this move, are the children. How will they handle it? What if they hate their new school? What will they do with a new brother? How will Jake handle having a slew of siblings around?

Here are a few tips from RealEstate.com that I found helpful

• Follow Established Home Routines: For all children, but especially pre-schoolers and kids in primary school, follow established home routines faithfully for the first few months after you move. This means having dinner at the same time, serving familiar foods, watching favorite TV shows, going to bed at the same time and observing the same bedtime rituals on a day-to-day basis.

• Let Your Child Decorate: Let your child pick the paint color; the fabric for curtains and bedspread and choose posters for the walls. Younger children typically resist change of any kind. If this is the case with your child, it may help to replicate the décor and furniture arrangement of his or her old room as closely as possible.

• Help Your Child Keep Up With Old Friends: Encourage your child to write and exchange photos; arrange phone calls, visits and sleepovers on a regular basis. Kids who are struggling to make new friends find it very relaxing and comforting to be with old buddies they don’t have to impress.

• Reinforce Their Confidence: For school-age children, reinforce your child’s confidence by enabling him or her to participate in extra-curricular activities. Whether its soccer or music lessons, continuing a favorite activity or starting a new one gives you your child feelings of competence and self-esteem that don’t depend on how well he or she is fitting into the social order at the new school.
  
• 
  

My teens will have a better time adapting, I believe. They will have decorating, unpacking and designing their new rooms. Then… we will talk in a few weeks, see how they are handling things and how they feel before school starts.

Jake is going to get a little more special time. He and I will read a little more, play on the computer a little more, and perhaps take walks on Monday evenings together… to connect with one another without all the distractions. Something to help him through this new step… and then… redesigning his room…. It’s time for something new, right?

This move will be a great one! It’ll just take a little time for everyone!