As you may recall, my family has a move coming up very soon, so I was very excited when I spotted a copy of Moving with Kids: 25 Ways to Ease Your Family's Transition to a New Home at the library recently. Author Lori Collins Burgan has tapped into the idea lists of a group of moms ranging from a single mom with four sons to a military mom with a multitude of moves, both stateside and overseas, under her belt.
Having grown up as an Army brat I was interested to see how many of the 25 ideas were things that my own mom had instinctively incorporated into our moving routine. I was also very interested in gleaning some concepts that would work for my family, since my six-year-old is brand new to this Army brat "thing" and is only on her second move ever. (Her first move was last fall after I remarried and we moved to our current home after she had lived in one house since birth.)
Now that I've made it through the whole book, I just can't say enough good things about Burgan's offerings for families who are moving. While she discusses the issue from the standpoint of a family who moved for a civilian career, she pulled in plenty of examples for military families, including some great anecdotes about how a family can get more involved in their new community. Other tips include approaching each move as though it's long term (I know we limited ourselves plenty when I was growing up - nobody wanted to become friends because "sooner or later one of us will move"), taking a leadership role in creating resources your family needs, and taking tangible keepsakes with you.
My absolute favorite tip was for making the most of temporary lodging: take along a few framed photos and similar keepsakes so that even if you are in a hotel, apartment, etc before moving into your new home, you can still make the place "home" for your kids. While I had thought to bring our own pillows, it would never have occured to me to put a few pictures and fridge artwork up during our transition.
If you've got kiddos and a move coming up sometime in the near future, I highly recommend this title. Even if moving seems like something that is "old hat" for your family, you may learn something new just like I did!
Check out the publisher's other offerings as well at HarvardCommonPress.com as well.
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