Guest post: Stateside move with three little ones and a hyperactive dog

Lauren is an Army wife of seven years and mother to three kids (4 and under). Her website www.militarymoveit.com and her blog are her hobby and a sanity check from her three-ring circus.

In about three weeks we will take off and move to Ft. Benning, GA. For my husband and me the location is very welcome, but like most people, getting from point A to point B will be a real pain. We have 3 kids 4 years old and under, 2 cars and 1 hyperactive dog. Just to complicate things a bit more we are buying a newly built house at Ft. Benning (closing long distance) and renting out the one we currently live in. To add to the fun our 2 year old is potty training – or more like potty protesting- and our 1 year old just went mobile while getting in about 10 teeth at once… no exaggeration. This is going to mean lots of juggling.

This is nothing in comparison to an OCONUS PCS, however there are still lots of moving parts. But because I am a woman, and a Mom, I am determined that I can multitask my way into a smooth sailing move.

Arrive with all three children happy and healthy (it would be a real bummer to lose one).

Have zero meltdowns (I might be -1 on this already, as I did have a mini-tantrum over the incompetence in getting our orders completed).

We really want to limit time spent in a hotel to 3 days or less. I used to think hotels were fun. Then we had kids. I have yet to meet a hotel room that really understands children. I would much rather be in our new empty house on air mattresses where everyone has THEIR OWN ROOM.

I also would like to eat out as little as possible. I actually love eating out, but see above reasons on why that is not all it is cracked up to be anymore :)

Here the number one biggest challenge. I want to unpack and organize our house in about 2 days.

The second biggest challenge is to stay out of a financial hole, maybe even make a little money off this move.

Here is what I am doing to make all of this happen:


Since I have the luxury of knowing our new floor plan I am already determining which rooms everything will go into. I have closets that won’t really match up so I plan on separating that stuff out into containers and labeling them for the “new closet”.

I am taking pictures of all my bookshelves so I can “recreate” them when we unpack.

I am packing up as much perishable food as possible since this is a fairly short move. Do you know how much condiments cost!

I am putting together an "essentials" container that includes air mattresses, blankets, towels, a shower curtain, and some other stuff. Go here to access full lists on what to pack.

I am packing a container with cups, a few plastic plates, a pot and a pan.

Lastly, I will have our movers unpack our house. Read more about the tricks of that here.

 
Hopefully a lot of prep work at the starting line will translate into a successful move! I will check back in about a month to let you all know what did work, what didn’t work, and any extra tips I learned along the way.