Moving as Seen Through the Eyes of a 4-Year-Old

Wendy from Charlotte, North Carolina, has moved around a lot, but she knows that a move with little children presents its own set of issues. Putting your possessions on a big truck and moving them to a different house: As adults, we know what a huge undertaking that is. To kids, it's almost too much to comprehend.

Here's a cute story from Wendy's family's move in Ohio:

When we relocated from Hubbard to Westerville, Ohio, we took the three kids with us to the closing, and the owners gracefully allowed us to walk through, so the kids could see where we were going to live.

Our youngest was 4, just two months from turning 5.  The house was in upheaval, just as our present home was, with packed boxes stacked everywhere.  Matt, then 7, asked where we were going to put "our" stuff. I explained to Matt and Robin, 4, that this family was moving to another home and taking all their stuff with them, so the house would be completely empty and ready for us to move in with our stuff. That all our boxes would go in a big truck and the truck would deliver it all safely to us.  My explanation was well thought out and executed, and I thought they really understood.

On moving-in day, we arrived later than the movers and they had already begun unloading the garage stuff into the driveway.  Robin said to her brother, "Look, Matt! They have a bike just like yours!"  She still hadn't understood!

Moral of the story, no matter how well we try to prepare them, young children just can't comprehend moving into a new home.

I can relate to this story, as I'm sure most of you can. When I was preparing to move from Cleveland to Virginia with our 4-year-old, he was visibly upset about the move until I reassured him that we were taking everything.  "Everything?" he asked. "Everything!" I emphasized. 

"Are we taking this wall?" he asked. 

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If you like Diane's humorous take on moving, you'll love her book Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves.

What Stuffed Animals? I Don't Remember Any Stuffed Animals

Here's a story that every parent can relate to, from Lynn of South Florida:

This is more of a confession than a funny story, but since my daughters are both adults now, I suppose it's time.

Lindsay and Brooks....the movers did not lose boxes of your stuffed animals when we moved from Miami to West Palm Beach.  I GAVE THEM AWAY.  What's worse, I donated them and took a tax deduction on them.  I sorted the ones I didn't think you'd miss (wrong again), and gave away dozens of them.  Maybe close to 100.  I only counted when I actually donated them, and we secreted away the tax forms so you wouldn't stumble upon them and discover us.

I knew they would need to be in storage for at least six months when we built the house, and who knew that a 6-year-old (Brooks, I'm talking about you) would have kept a ledger of her stuffed animals.  Mea culpa.

Think of it this way...since we got a tax deduction on the donation and then paid the bulk of your college tuition, we were actually paying forward with your stuffed animals.  And Brooks, since you are 26 and living in a foreign country now, and since your closet is still packed solid with stuffed animals, stacks of flute sheet music and child size 6 costumes, I'd say you still came out on the positive side of that ledger.

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If you like Diane's humorous take on moving, you'll love her book Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves.

A Cat-Astrophic Move

Here at It's Your Move!, we hear from a lot of movers. There's a lot of complaints, gnashing of teeth, and pointing the finger of blame. But it occurs to me that there's another side to the story. Is it possible that maybe the moving companies might have their own stories to tell?

So we went to HireAHelper.com, a marketplace for movers. "The moving companies listed on our site do the hard work of lifting heavy furniture in hundreds of cities across the country," said Hire-a-Helper's Daniel Horning, "which means they see the full spectrum of panicked customers with interesting stories."

This story comes from Alhood Vanlines LLC, a Denver moving company, and involves a disappearing furry friend. Enjoy!

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About three weeks ago, here in beautiful Denver, CO, we did a full service move for a young lady. The relocation went very well, and the customer was happy with our services in the end, but there was an issue during the relocation. Pets like to hide or sneak out of homes when we relocate them, so we always recommend putting them in their own room. I received a call from one of my office workers who informed me of an upset customer. He was on the other line with this customer and all I could make out was him telling her "Ma'am we do not have your cat." 

Apparently this customer was convinced that my movers had stolen her cat when they performed her relocation. My movers informed the woman that typically cats will hide under beds, or commonly inside of couches, but the customer did not believe that was the case. She proceeded to call the office back again and informed us that she would be right over and that we were not to allow our movers to exit the truck until she got there.

This person somehow sped to our office and was able to beat our movers back. She asked them to step out of the truck while she searched the cab. She then had them open the back of the truck and searched it thoroughly. Our movers carry tool bags, so she asked them what was in the bag. My movers said, "our tools."

She replied, "Are you sure my cat is not in there?"

She was dead serious. Then she looked down the row of office buildings by our shop and asked, "What is that place?"

My mover answered, "It is a doggie daycare."

To which she replied, "Well, do they buy and sell cats there?"

It was as if she was implying that we had some sort of elaborate, organized cat smuggling ring going on in our spare time and moving furniture was our cover. A day went past and we received another call stating that at this point she was almost 100 percent sure that we had stolen her cat. The same office gentleman stated again "Ma'am, we do not have your cat." She then told him that he must just be covering for our movers because they are related. The gentlemen are, of course, not related and my office staff was a little taken aback by that statement, as they are both of African descent.

Twenty minutes later the lady called back to apologize to us and inform us that she had found her cat, he was in her couch hiding for two days, right where we suggested she look. People definitely take their pets seriously and value them as family, so we tread lightly until they are found.

Just another day for us, but still a funny situation to be in.

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If you like Diane's humorous take on moving, you'll love her book Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves.