How to Help Your Child Deal With Relocating
Moving is part of life for the typical military family. Typically, experts find that children who have a military mom or dad will move every three years. Leaving for a new city this often is hard on everyone in the family. This is especially the case for children. Needing to say goodbye to friends, being the new kid at school, and worrying about fitting in are all hard on children. The good thing is that if you prepare your children with a few simple steps, relocating can be a lot easier on him or her.
Talk About the Move Early
First, you should talk to your child about moving to Colorado as soon as you learn about it. It certainly is tempting to wait to break bad news, but you will find it best in the long run if you tell your child what is up. The longer they have to prepare and accept the situation, the better off they will be.
Knowing about the move well in advance helps children, especially teenagers, deal with the inevitable. An older child, such as a senior in high school, might get more excited if you tell him about a military friendly college near your new home.
Attend Relo Briefings
If your child is old enough, you can encourage him to go to your military relocation briefings when you feel it’s appropriate. Some military installations have relocation programs for children and teenagers. You should check with your relocation branch and see what is available.
Stick to Routine
Routines give children a good sense of stability and comfort. You should try to keep up family routines even if they do not seem to make sense. Keep taking your child to soccer practice even if he won’t be with the team in six weeks. The more you can keep things regular, the better off your child will be.
Involve Your Child
It’s smart to have your child help with some of the move planning, if she’s old enough. You can ask a teenager to help you plan the driving route. Or, you can have your younger child pick out some of the furniture or colors in his new bedroom. Making him an active partner in the process will make him feel like he has some control in a difficult situation.
Check Out the New School
Make sure that your child knows all about his new school as early on as possible. Visit the website of the school and arrange a visit if it is possible. This will really help to ease your child’s mind.
Say Good-bye
You should try to let your child say good-bye to some of his favorite places. You should take your child to his favorite restaurant or favorite park one more time. This helps to give your child a chance to accept the fact that things are changing. It also gives your son or daughter a chance to get ready for the future.
As you know, being in the military is not always easy. There are ways, however, to make it easier. From attending a military friendly college to planning ahead for relocation, there are things you can do to reduce the stress that comes from a military life.
Byline: Michelle is an aspiring writer who currently works for a military friendly college. When she’s not working she’s blogging on anything and everything! She loves how blogging gives her the opportunity to improve her writing skills, voice her thoughts and opinions, and share advice with an unl
What Work Should You do Before Selling Your House?
When looking to sell your home and move to Colorado there are a number of things you can do that will help not only in getting the maximum amount of profit, but also ensuring that you get a reasonably quick sale. Both of which are harder to obtain in the current housing market.
Before you have even listed or spoken to an estate agent about pricing, it is always worth investing some time and even a small amount of money if need be to get your property looking the best it can. At first this can involve just a general clean. Making sure the bathroom and kitchen are clean and tidy. All rooms are uncluttered, organized and look inviting to anyone who would look around. If there are any small repairs or painting that needs doing, then getting it done will help dramatically in the long run. Things that may cost a small amount to sort out now could cost you heavily down the line if potential buyers start requesting reduced prices for things they will have to sort out if they buy it.
Once you have got the property in a state that is ‘ready to move in’, pricing the property correctly is the next major step. Take advice from at least 3 different estate agents and take an average. Don’t always be attracted to the one who says its worth the most, as they may just drop the price after a week or two after listing. Research what other properties of similar size around the area are asking for and also what recently sold properties actually went for. Going into the market with a realistic asking price can not only potentially save you weeks or months of wasted time, but will also ensure you are not hugely disappointed when the property doesn’t sell.
Now you are ready to sell the property the final work is how are you going to sell it? Depending on whether you need really quick sale or if you are looking for the maximum amount of money can alter this. Either way, spending a bit of money on some marketing can be a huge help and speed up the process significantly. Using an estate agent not only has the existing target audience but once a sale is agreed they can handle all of the legal paperwork. Of course you pay for these services but can save you weeks or months against trying to do it yourself. Other types of marketing include online listing websites, and even popular local newspapers. One of the last most obvious types of marketing, make sure you have a large sign at the front of the property. You never know who will drive past and want to take a look.
Author Bio
Jess Collins is passionate about home design, property and consumer rights. Preparing your property for sale is an essential step if you want to sell your house By following this advice you can be sure of getting the best deal when you sell your home.
Relocating with Fido Made Easy: Moving House with Your Pet
You have been planning for several weeks. You have informed your kids about moving to Colorado and they have been helping you pack all of your things. The movers are hired and are scheduled to arrive in a few days. However, you are still facing one problem: how will you move house with your pets in tow?
Animals do not understand the concept of moving home. The process might be stressful for you because you have to think about a million details like packing but it can be traumatic for your dogs and cats because you are also uprooting them from their home. Suddenly they find themselves in an unfamiliar surrounding with strange smells and new animals on the block. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to make moving house easier for your loyal companions.
Before the Move
Animals are known to be more attuned to what goes around them than humans expect so do not be surprised if your pets get anxious if they see you packing your belongings. It is best to confine them in a room during this process so they will not be stressed out. When you pack all of your pets’ belongings, make sure that they are all complete. It also helps them if you give them plenty of attention before you actually leave the premises lest they think that you are leaving them behind. If they are not used to traveling in a pet carrier, you need to train them a few weeks before your moving day so they will get used to it.
Anticipate Problems
As a responsible pet owner, it is your duty to anticipate the problems that come with moving home with your pet. One of the biggest problems you will face is your pets will try to escape from your new house and become lost. Some of them might try to go back to your old house. It is best to keep them inside the house or to have a fence built around your new house.
Introduce Old Smells
Avoid washing your pets’ things after you move to your new house so they will still smell something familiar in their new surroundings. You can also leave a shirt you wore for several days near your pets’ beds so they will be reminded of your presence. This will have a calming effect on them. If you have cats, you can rub a damp towel on their faces and rub it all over the house. Cats secrete a pheromone from their faces which they use to “mark their territory”.
Explore the Neighborhood
Once you get settled in, go out for daily walks with your pets and explore your new neighborhood. Allow them to sniff at posts, bushes and trees. Let them become familiar with the area by introducing new sights, sounds and smells
This article is made by Ericka, who enjoys writing content for We Do Boxes, a company that offers a wide variety of Cardboard Moving Boxes.
How to Downsize Before the Big Move
So you’re planning to move to Colorado. Congratulations! Have you thought about what things you need to pack and what you can leave behind? Clothing, bedding, kitchen supplies, toys, furniture, and accessories can take up a lot of boxes! You may not even realize how much stuff you actually have, until you start to pack. Before you start filling your boxes, think about downsizing your possessions so you have less to pack and haul to your new home. Check out these simple tips on downsizing.
What’s Hiding in the Closet
Here’s where you should start when moving to Colorado: Take inventory of all of your clothes. This may seem like a daunting task now, but just think how much less you’ll have to pack when you slim down your wardrobe. Sort your clothing into four piles: Off-season, keep, toss, and donate. All of your clothes need to go into one pile or another. Be honest with yourself too…if you’re never going to wear it (or you’re still hoping to fit into it) then don’t keep it! It’s best for the whole family to take part in this activity, especially kids who outgrow clothing in a minute. Only take what you’ll really wear to your new home. You’ll be amazed at how clean your closet will look at the new place.
Knickknacks Galore
Tchotchkes, knickknacks , and other items that are taking up space on your shelves don’t need to come to the new house with you. If it’s hard for you to slim down your collection of stuff, try limiting yourself to one boxfull. Go around the house and pick only the items you really love, or the items that can’t be replaced. Everything else should go to the curb or to Goodwill with the clothes.
Office Overload
A home office is often a place where clutter builds up. This is mostly old paper work, bills, and correspondence that you never got rid of. This is the best time to do just that. Double check that you no longer need old documents and then send them to the shredder. Manuals and instructions for household items can be tucked into a manila envelope and left for the family who occupies your home. Don’t drag those along with you. Keep only what you must and place it into a filing cabinet that you plan on taking with you. If possible, scan your documents into the computer and back them up on a hard drive. This way you don’t need to take along any paper at all. Consider lightening up your bookshelf as well. If you haven’t read it in the last year, get rid of it. You won’t need those college text books anymore.
Kitchen Crazy
One of the most daunting rooms to pack up is the kitchen. Between cutlery, pots and pans, utensils and cookbooks, there is a lot to box! Assess the items in your kitchen. Don’t bring along anything that is broken or anything that you hardly use. No sense in hauling that bread maker you got for your wedding if it’s never even been unwrapped. As for supplies, take this opportunity to replace anything that you don’t like or that’s broken once you move into your new house.
Over Accessorized
While your home looks beautiful because of your great taste in accessories and decorative items, those things can be tough to pack especially if they’re breakable. Instead packing up all of your accessories, stick to the ones you like best that will look good in your new home. Keep items that hold strong sentimental value and leave behind anything you can live without. You could also think about slimming down your CD collection, if you have towers of CD’s you never play. If you don’t have the discs, you won’t need to take the towers either.
Yard Sale
Before the big move, hold a yard sale with your old clothes, knickknacks, kitchen supplies, and accessories. You can make a couple hundred dollars by selling your old stuff and use the money towards new things for your new house. If you have valuable items that you’d like to sell, try putting them up online.
These are just a few of the places to downsize when you’re getting ready to pack before moving. Keep in mind that if you can’t bear to part with some things, you don’t need to bring them to the new house! Keeping things in a storage facility is always a good option if you move a lot or if you have kids that will be heading off to college soon.
These tips and tricks are brought to you by Erie Construction. Follow Erie Construction on Twitter to receive more tips about home improvement.
