Hellobee Boards

Assuming you might be working remotely anyway (not sure), is there any chance you could stay with family? I only had one when we did a big move but that’s what we did ... dh stayed a couple days past us in the old city to finalize move and we flew to my mom’s (not close to either location, but easy to stay there). I worked remotely there and my mom watched my oldest. DH stayed in an extended stay in the new city which helped with a couple deliveries (new washer, etc) and then when the truck was scheduled I came down to the new city. I left DD behind for a couple days so I could get the basics organized, I’d use daycare for that and take a few days off if you can! The way we did it, my mom flew with her that time and stayed to help - I was 1st tri pregnant and really needed the help because I was so sick. If I had to choose between old and new house, I’d probably pick something temporary by the new house. Feels good to get there and you can talk it up like a vacation and explore together in your free time, so you’re not stuck in a hotel.

Being really organized also helps. The first things we set up in the new house were kid room basics and kitchen (and maybe a pack n play to contain your 1yo). If those boxes are clearly labeled it makes it easier to get that settled. Also, give yourself a lot of grace. If they watched too much tv, eat too many chicken nuggets, whatever, it will be fine! Also expect everything to take longer than you think and accept any help you can get!

Good luck!

We’ve made several international moves and have had to live without our stuff for 8-9 weeks at a time while it was shipped. First, is your company paying for the move? If so, see if it covers packing and unpacking. If it does, there’s not much to worry about. Just pack your suitcases. Are you planning to make the actual move flying or driving? I don’t have experience with driving, but we took I think one extra suitcase per person filled with essentials other than clothes and toiletries. We’ve never taken many toys and the kids don’t miss them. When you get to the new city, you can always rent a serviced apartment or air bnb for a week or two while you find more permanent lodgings. On our last move, we were in an Airbnb for a month while apartment hunting and waiting for our stuff to arrive, but we still lived in our new apartment practically empty for 2 weeks before our container arrived. We did make one move where, in addition to our container, the company paid for 1 cubic meter of air freight, so we could bring extra stuff and have it basically right away. Good luck.

We moved from VA to WA with a 3 yo and almost 1 yo. We used shipping containers (upack) and hired movers to pack them, after we had already packed our belongings. We had the kids in daycare the 2 major packing days and rented an airbnb in the neighborhood to stay in so we had beds, kitchen, etc and a little bit of stability. I flew with the girls by myself, while DH drove across the country with our 4 pets. I stayed with my mom for 2 weeks while DH drove and then started his new job (he stayed in a room via airbnb for the overlap). We had rented an airbnb for us all to stay in while we waited to close on our house but it wasn't available right away. Then we all moved in together to the (very bare bones) airbnb and were there for a few weeks until we closed. We had about a week overlap so we were able to get the shipping containers out of storage and (again paid movers) unloaded them. That way we were able to set up the kids furniture before moving into the house. We also didn't have daycare for them for the first 6 weeks, they started right before I started my new job. So we had a summer vacation (it was summer, thank goodness) with me as a temp SAHM. Which sort of drove me bananas, usually I WOHM 3 days/week, but mostly it was the lack of all of our stuff that made it so hard. And we went a little too cheap on the airbnb. But we moved from LCOL to HCOL so it's still been a financial adjustment.

We did lots of prep for the kids (okay mostly the oldest, the baby had no idea) with books about moving, making a memory book of pics from her old school, and books about our new city. It helped that we were moving closer to family so that really kept her centered.

I spent a ton of time thinking about everything so ask questions! Good luck! We also bought our house sight unseen, didn't find a daycare until we got there, and didn't get our old house sold until 9 months later (ugh, technically we don't close for 3 more weeks...). It was/is super stressful, no joke.

Have you considered using ABF UPack? That's the company we used and it only took a few days for our stuff to get from the east coast to the midwest. 3 and 1 are small enough that they won't really "get" what is going on. Books for the three year old will help, but remembering to stay calm and cheerful and treat it like an adventure yourself will be the most important since they will be taking their clues from you. Definitely agree on the packing super organized!