Now that we’ve moved twice in less than a year with 8 kids in tow, you’d think we’d be pros by now. In reality, we are far from pros but we have learned a few things that have made each move a little easier.

For those that don’t know, last year we bought property to be able to build our forever home. Shortly after we sold our home of almost 10 years and moved into a rental. Initially we were told we could stay in the rental for 16 months so we thought that would give us plenty of time to build a new home. After about 8 months, however, the owners decided they wanted to sell the house so we needed to find another place to live. We thought that the second time would be easier since we had purged a lot of our stuff in the previous move, but we ran into a lot of obstacles and let’s just say it was a very stressful week. Honestly, when you have a large family it’s normal for moving to be stressful.

One major aspect of moving as a larger family is the logistics of it all. Thankfully, I was given advice from a friend of mine who is a mom to many and I wanted to pass it along to you in case you have a move approaching in your near future.  

If at all possible, send any child who is not able to be a BIG HELPER to a friend or grandparents’ house. Fortunately my mom lives close by so my littles were able to hang out with her when the movers came and we weren’t trying to keep track of so many kids. Plus my kids thought it was fun because they love their Glammy and think it’s a special treat to hang out at her house.

Pack 3-4 days worth of clothes for everyone. This was a lifesaver for us! We are literally still living off these packings! This time I got smart and use packing cubes for each of the kid so I could easily get out what I needed for each kid. I also included their toiletries in their individual pack.

Keep a stash of paper plates, utensils, cups, napkins (and diapers!) It’s been 3 days and I still don’t know where our silverware, plates, and cooking utensils.

Use a buddy system at all times—we make everyone go in twos (regardless of age). Using the buddy system when moving is lifesaver! When the movers were at our house, having buddies kept our children safe from all the undertaking in our home. Once in our new rental, it helped to keep the little’s occupied while I tried to unpack.

Budget for Eating out or Fast Food—Our move took roughly a week due to a couple of issues with the moving company and the rental house needing some TLC before moving in. With that said, we had to eat out and use our microwave a lot more than usual. One thing I wish I had done better was plan out our meals once we were in the new rental. It would have saved us a lot of money vs. picking up food or going out for every meal. I did stock up on snacks, and some easy breakfast items (granola bars, fruit, etc) which was nice to have on hand since my kids are ALWAYS hungry.

Have a plan but don’t stress when it changes—We had a lot of unforeseen issues come up this move and honestly there was one night I broke down in tears. My husband helped talk me off the ledge, and then we made a plan knowing it would change again. Having a plan helped to eliminate stress even though I knew some things would not go as planned.

I have to admit this move was much harder than any move we’ve done. We had a lot of issues that added a lot of stress but we survived and honestly the kids kept saying how it was the best week ever! 😊 Plus it forced me to finally get our homeschool curriculum organized which is a huge win.

Now I want to hear from all of you who have moved with a large family? What was helpful? What will you do differently next time? We have to move again next year once our home is built so I need all your tips!