PCSing tips from a Navy married adult woman as well as woman nurture of three

 

This is our 3rd PCS together. There were a lot of reasons why this past times movement went equally good equally it did, many of which yous already know if yous read my terminal spider web log post, "PCS to South Carolina." Here are the major reasons equally to why this was such a practiced move:

• My married adult man was habitation on both ends in addition to did non receive got to move into function much. In North Carolina he was working alongside the ROTC after he graduated college; he took 10 days of solid hunting teach out during our PCS. Now inward South Carolina he is on agree earlier he genuinely starts ability school. We did non receive got to bargain alongside a boat schedule or him beingness underway piece I laid upward the move. That was a prissy alter (read "STA-21 'Officer's' Program").
• Since nosotros moved ane soil downwards (North Carolina to South Carolina), nosotros did non receive got to send whatsoever vehicles in addition to endeavor to figure out how nosotros were going to negotiate having ane auto for an extended menstruation of time.
• Along the same vein, nosotros also did non receive got to bargain alongside getting specific ability of attorneys to send vehicles, create the pack out, select HHG shipment, yadda yadda yadda... Plus I ever receive got the durable unlimited ability of attorney which has made our life much easier.
• We had baby-sitters in addition to friends to assist when nosotros moved from North Carolina. We fifty-fifty knew mortal inward South Carolina who brought us dinner when our HHG's were delivered.
• We were able to charge upward our auto alongside our pantry ingredients in addition to a cooler alongside some of our fridge ingredients. We did non receive got to bargain alongside empty cupboards for a calendar week or 2 earlier making the World's Most Expensive Costco Trip similar nosotros receive got had to on every other move.
• We were able to create a remove move. Our pack out dates were a Midweek in addition to a Thursday. They loaded our HHG's onto the truck inward North Carolina on Fri in addition to they were delivered at our address inward South Carolina an lx minutes after nosotros got the keys to our solid on Monday.

Tools for setting upward your HHG move

With all that said, hither are the things that I establish extremely helpful when setting upward our HHG move:

• Our movement notebook was awesome! I wrote a spider web log post nigh what is inward our movement notebook called, "Write it all down." Since my married adult man was home, I liked that nosotros were able to move along all our data instantly betwixt what he was working on in addition to what I was working on. He knew where to await for of import telephone numbers in addition to I knew where to await to teach a re-create of our orders. When nosotros genuinely moved, I did comport our file organizer alongside us instead of putting our passports in addition to nativity certificates, etc, inward the movement notebook since nosotros merely drove ane soil down. However, during our movement from Hawaii to North Carolina, I would receive got pose those documents inward my movement notebook in addition to non had to comport the cumbersome file organizer.
• Along alongside the movement notebook, I kept a Greenroom Recycled Clipboard from Target handy. This is where I kept notes when I talked to housing in addition to where my married adult man in addition to I wrote our pre-pack out to-do lists. I tore off sheets of data I needed to move along in addition to pose those inward the movement notebook, but for full general notes, I liked having the clipboard. It was also much easier to comport this clipboard alongside me when waiting for a supply telephone telephone telephone from housing than lugging the entire movement notebook to our son's common in addition to rec class.

First Day Bag

Once nosotros genuinely got the keys to our novel solid inward South Carolina, our kickoff 24-hour interval handbag was awesome. This is the kickoff fourth dimension that I did a kickoff 24-hour interval bag; every other movement I kicked myself when I realized I didn't receive got john newspaper or lather or some other necessity, impatiently waiting for dejeuner suspension therefore I could run to Target. So a huge give thank yous you to my married adult man for reminding me to pack a kickoff 24-hour interval bag. I know some people create a kickoff 24-hour interval box that gets packed alongside their HHG's in addition to is clearly marked FIRST DAY BOX, that agency they receive got those supplies inward their novel house. We merely pose the kickoff 24-hour interval handbag inward our vehicle in addition to drove it downwards alongside us. Here is what I pose inside:

• A pack of john paper
• Hand soap-- pose inward 1 or 2 lather dispensers
• Small size of dish soap
• Roll of newspaper towels
• White cleaning rag
• Clorox wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Ziploc handbag of dishwasher detergent
• Ziploc handbag of Tide Pods for laundry
• Several plastic Target bags
• Box of Ziploc bags, quart size
• If yous receive got immature kids: Extra infant wipes
• If yous receive got immature kids: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 dyad of diapers
•  If yous receive got room: a dyad of paw towels

This was to teach us through the kickoff 24-hour interval or 2 earlier nosotros started unpacking our bath boxes in addition to to tide us over inward representative of laundry emergency alongside kids (plastic handbag for muddied clothes, laundry pods for loads that demand to teach washed at the hotel or after our washer in addition to dryer got hooked up). I entirely packed ane paw lather dispenser in addition to I genuinely want that I had pose inward at to the lowest degree two. We ended upward using the dish lather inward the kitchen in addition to putting the paw lather inward the bathroom. The Clorox wipes were a stroke of genius. I used those a lot the kickoff dyad days. I don't know nigh you, but I similar to construct clean my novel solid earlier using the amenities. I felt much to a greater extent than at habitation alongside this Mary Poppins-esque handbag at my disposal. The newspaper towels worked fine, though I create want that I had thrown inward a paw towel or 2 for the bath in addition to the kitchen.

 Making unpacking easier

I think a lot of people brand unpacking a harder procedure than it needs to be. Sometimes it is genuinely overwhelming opening upward a box to honour it total of random post service from your former house, DVDs that yous don't receive got room for, blankets yous haven't unpacked the bin for, in addition to tchotchkes yous had sitting around your former living room. Even harder (for me): figuring out how to laid upward your novel kitchen. There yous are, standing inward a kitchen alongside empty cupboards, stacked high alongside boxes marked kitchen, in addition to yous don't know where to begin. Where to pose the cooking spoons? Or the silverware? Or the spices? And equally yous unpack boxes, practiced Lord, where am I going to pose this small-scale kitchen appliance that I had totally forgotten about?

In all honesty, ane of the most stressful things for me nigh unpacking our solid is when my married adult man is habitation to help. We receive got totally dissimilar styles. He wants to teach everything out of boxes in addition to come across everything that needs to move inward a room, similar the kitchen, earlier putting anything away. To me, this is a wildly unrealistic agency to unpack because 1. nosotros receive got kids who volition suspension everything nosotros teach out sitting around in addition to 2. if nosotros unpacked all our HHG earlier putting them away, nosotros would receive got therefore much clutter for weeks that I would in all likelihood lose my mind. My agency of unpacking is much to a greater extent than "me create it." I tin dismiss figure it out; I merely desire to teach it done. This is why I ever receive got my grandmother movement alongside me because she is the same way. She industrial plant inward ane room; I function inward another. I movement boxes for her; she asks if I utilization something often, in addition to nosotros merely unpack in addition to file everything away ane box at a time. This move, my married adult man in addition to I talked nigh things earlier our HHGs were delivered in addition to it genuinely went perfectly-- therefore perfectly that I don't know what I'll create if I receive got to movement without him adjacent time! He was such a huge assist in addition to totally organized our garage piece helping me inward the house; I don't know how he got everything done that he did-- summation he hung everything inward our solid beautifully. Sometimes combining 2 dissimilar styles is merely what yous demand to teach a solid unpacked rapidly in addition to efficiently. :)

Here are my tips on unpacking your house:

• Communicate. Whether yous are unpacking your solid alongside your married adult man or a relative who came to help, figure out who is unpacking what, fifty-fifty if it is room past times room. If it is your solid in addition to yous receive got mortal helping you, say them what yous demand assist alongside in addition to give them the liberty to create it. Give them a specific job. "Would yous heed organizing this hall cupboard? I demand the medicine upward high, out of the accomplish of the kids, but everything else is upward to you. I create similar things grouped together, similar paw towels, or children's medicine." When unpacking alongside your spouse, figure out what your innovation of activity is. "I innovation on doing the closets next; what nigh you?" If yous genuinely desire something done a for sure way, say your husband therefore at that topographic point isn't conflict later, particularly if it is ane of "your" areas of the house. For instance, my married adult man spends a lot of fourth dimension working inward the garage in addition to therefore he laid it upward how he wanted to. He asked if at that topographic point was anything special I wanted inward the garage in addition to I told him I wanted the kids' toys easily accessible.
• Prioritize. Unpack your solid past times social club of priority. Since nosotros receive got small-scale kids, nosotros needed their room unpacked therefore they could slumber safely each night-- no boxes stacked inward the corner or loose screws laying about. We pulled the boxes out of their playroom in addition to unpacked plenty of their toys that they had a security identify to play piece nosotros unpacked the residuum of the house. I in addition to therefore unpacked plenty of their bath that nosotros could create baths at night. The kitchen is a large priority because that is where nosotros laid upward our meals. Laundry room is a huge priority therefore I tin dismiss start washing sheets in addition to clothes. I got those areas squared away earlier doing things similar my closet. I wanted my closet unpacked therefore I could teach ready quicker, in addition to and therefore I went dorsum in addition to finished things similar the bathrooms, earlier going to lower priority things similar finishing the playroom in addition to unpacking in addition to organizing my books. With small-scale children, things similar hanging pictures becomes a large priority ane time yous receive got unpacked the bulk of the pictures because they move a jeopardy stacked inward a corner of the room.
• Organize. This doesn't hateful folding all of your towels merely therefore equally yous pose them away or putting every dish inward the closet precisely how yous desire it the kickoff time. As yous unpack, yous volition receive got those "oh, crap" moments of you-forgot-just-how-many-towels-you-own or when-on-earth-did-I-get-so-many-small-kitchen-appliances or where-the-Hades-am-I-going-to-store-my-canned-goods. You volition live shifting things equally yous unpack. However, plan. Eyeball your house. Where create yous desire to move along your household linens? Or your medications? Or your shoes? Figure out stone oil ideas of homes for these things in addition to congregate items equally yous go. Where is a security identify (safe important out of the accomplish of toddlers) to pose your trinkets equally yous unpack them? Right at nowadays I receive got a shelf inward the garage alongside our decorative vases, many of which volition eventually honour their permanent places within the home-- merely haven't gotten to it yet. When yous unpack those random boxes, it won't live therefore stressful if yous know where yous are planning on keeping extra blankets or your role files.
• Re-purpose. As the movers brought inward our furniture, they would enquire me where I wanted large slice of furniture items that-- I kid yous not-- I had completely forgotten about. I had to shift the room to adjust those pieces. Some things ended upward where they are because that was the entirely identify I had room to pose them. Our black stand upward is at nowadays inward my closet. Just because a slice of slice of furniture was an terminate tabular array or your toy organizer at your terminal solid doesn't hateful that it can't move your novel nightstand or a bookcase inward your living room at your novel house. Look at your slice of furniture alongside a novel optic equally it gets unpacked. Would that function equally a desk inward your office? Or could that at nowadays live the dresser inward your kids' room? And wouldn't that live merely the matter to organize your playroom? Use your storage bins creatively. What if yous took this bin out of your kitchen in addition to used it instead inward your invitee room? Or organized all your homeschooling things alongside it?
• Donate. As nosotros unpack, nosotros move along a sturdy medium size box opened upward at all times marked clearly DONATE in addition to some other marked TRASH. Don't move along what yous don't need. Sometimes it is difficult to throw things away at your former solid because yous can't come across that solid without it-- what would yous pose inward that strange corner if yous got rid of that chair or lamp? In your novel house, yous come across that yous don't demand it. You don't demand these toys or these clothes or those books or that desk. Get rid of it. Do it piece it is fresh, earlier yous settle in. Designate a corner of your garage or porch equally your DONATE pile. Don't movement your junk drawer from ane solid to another. Start your novel junk drawer fresh, entirely putting inward it some pens, paper, in addition to a flashlight. Get rid of the rest. I similar to think of it equally paying it forward. Give these things to mortal who wants them or needs them. Give them to a charity. Welcome your household unit of measurement to your novel habitation alongside some practiced Karma in addition to a fresh start. The donate box is also particularly useful because if I receive got something that I'm genuinely stumped alongside finding a identify for that I rarely use, I donate it.
• Simplify. I know a lot of people launder all their sheets in addition to towels earlier putting them away after they move, or launder all of their kitchen appliances, dishes, in addition to silverware earlier putting them away. I wait. I'll fill upward the dishwasher alongside our everyday dishes in addition to our everyday silverware, but everything else waits. I launder the kitchen appliances earlier I utilization them. I eventually launder all our kitchen gadgets. We've been inward our novel habitation for 2 weeks in addition to today I pulled all our kitchen gadgets out of their drawers in addition to washed everything, filling upward the sink in addition to soaking them inward hot, soapy H2O earlier washing them all in addition to laying them out to dry out over towels on the kitchen counter. This movement I packed construct clean sheets for all the beds alongside me, eliminating the loads of sheets earlier making the beds. I've like shooting fish in a barrel washed the other sheets these past times 2 weeks. You don't receive got to create it all correct away when your solid is inward boxes! Clean equally yous go. Don't move far to a greater extent than stressful.

Moving alongside immature children

We receive got iii boys: a five-year former in addition to two-year former twins. I genuinely worried nigh moving alongside all iii of them. I stressed over whether I should move purchase plastic bins to organize their toys, pose all the Matchbox cars inward one, all the activity figures inward another, etc. I agonized over what toys I should convey for them to the hotel in addition to our drive, what movies, what games. I stressed nigh how to brand this transition easier for them. In the end, nosotros packed our Jeep therefore tight that nosotros weren't able to teach the prepare tabular array out ane time nosotros checked into our hotel (yes, I planned on bringing the whole dang prepare tabular array into the hotel room alongside us) in addition to I forgot to pack whatsoever DVD's at all earlier our HHG's were packed up. What worked best for them was keeping naptime the same in addition to having fun, private activities, similar sticker books in addition to magnetic drawing boards. I did convey some of their favorite books alongside us to the hotel therefore that nosotros could all read together in addition to they liked the fourth dimension inward Mommy in addition to Daddy's lap earlier bed in addition to nosotros had a handbag of Duplos alongside us. All iii of the boys played alongside those inward the hotel in addition to inward our novel solid earlier their toys started coming off the truck. The biggest matter to yell upward is that the kids feed off of your energy. The to a greater extent than stressed yous are, the to a greater extent than stressed they are. I had to remind myself oft that it volition all come upward together, it volition all function out. There were many times during unpacking that I changed tactics to include the kids, "Hey, tin dismiss yous pose all the newspaper inward this box? Can yous pose the toys inward the bin?" or that I took fun breaks, similar hooking upward the sprinkler in addition to sitting exterior alongside them. The best times, I found, to teach existent function done were during mealtime (strapped inward their highchairs), naptime, in addition to bedtime. While my married adult man fed them, I would function on projects I didn't desire iii small-scale sets of hands involved in; this unremarkably resulted inward me eating standing upward at random times of the day. Big, fourth dimension consuming projects that involved both my married adult man in addition to I, similar hanging the pictures inward the house, nosotros did kickoff matter inward the morning time when the boys were nevertheless fresh in addition to upbeat.

And if yous are PCSing soon, best of luck to yous on your upcoming move!
-Kimber

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