January 15: I officially have a move date and it's 3 weeks away.
To be fair I've been preparing for this move since Christmas and have been sorting and packing since December 26th. Of course by sorting I mean throwing away all the garbage that has accumulated since our last move 2 years ago (where does it all come from?!).
It took me a week or two to get into the swing of things and to get my now 15 month old little boy to somewhat understand what was going on with all the boxes.
To be fair I've been preparing for this move since Christmas and have been sorting and packing since December 26th. Of course by sorting I mean throwing away all the garbage that has accumulated since our last move 2 years ago (where does it all come from?!).
It took me a week or two to get into the swing of things and to get my now 15 month old little boy to somewhat understand what was going on with all the boxes.
Phase 1: Packing
Saying packing is difficult with a toddler is an understatement.
I spend most of my days looking for my markers to label boxes, my rolls of box tape and removing all the wonderful things my son has added into the boxes that are yet to be closed up.
At the suggestion of my brother in law I provided my son with a sheet of bubble wrap and the dogs are now terrified of my son. At the suggestion of my husbands Aunt I set my son up with his own box to 'pack' that he promptly turned into a fort to hide all the cookies, snacks and dog food he could sneak behind my back. My husband suggested I lock my son in the dog cage. As tempting as this sounded I eventually (after perhaps contemplating the idea for longer than I theoretically should have) decided this was not legally feasible and started brainstorming other ideas. When I accepted the fact that my son was only trying to help I reluctantly swallowed my frustrations and carried on packing as quickly and efficiently as I could.
I've learned that no matter how hard I try as soon as I turn my back something will end up in a box that shouldn't be there. I've learned that if I need another box I need to build two. I've learned that for every 3 things put into a box, 2 will promptly come back out. I've learned to move quickly, distract with toys and snacks often and to accept that this packing endeavor will take twice to ten times the amount of time it realistically should.
I spend most of my days looking for my markers to label boxes, my rolls of box tape and removing all the wonderful things my son has added into the boxes that are yet to be closed up.
At the suggestion of my brother in law I provided my son with a sheet of bubble wrap and the dogs are now terrified of my son. At the suggestion of my husbands Aunt I set my son up with his own box to 'pack' that he promptly turned into a fort to hide all the cookies, snacks and dog food he could sneak behind my back. My husband suggested I lock my son in the dog cage. As tempting as this sounded I eventually (after perhaps contemplating the idea for longer than I theoretically should have) decided this was not legally feasible and started brainstorming other ideas. When I accepted the fact that my son was only trying to help I reluctantly swallowed my frustrations and carried on packing as quickly and efficiently as I could.
I've learned that no matter how hard I try as soon as I turn my back something will end up in a box that shouldn't be there. I've learned that if I need another box I need to build two. I've learned that for every 3 things put into a box, 2 will promptly come back out. I've learned to move quickly, distract with toys and snacks often and to accept that this packing endeavor will take twice to ten times the amount of time it realistically should.
February 4: Phase 2: The Drive
My husband very sweetly called my mother last week to ask her to come out and help me make the 725 mile drive. Just 2 days from now my mom, my son, my three dogs and I will be piling into my car for what is 'mapquested' as a 10 hour drive, but has the likelihood of taking us, oh, 3 days. Secretly I'm hoping my son is so excited to have 'Gamma' around that he stays chipper for the beginning, and most stressful part, of the drive.
In preparation for the trek my husband has purchased headrest TVs for my car (although is yet to install them...), I plan on bringing an insane amount of snacks, I will be turning my sons car seat to be forward facing (for this drive only) and we will be starting the drive in the evening in hopes that he sleeps for the majority of the trek.
To say I am not excited for the long drive is obvious. Why would anyone volunteer to sit in the car driving through 3 States that appear void of any human life with 2 Weiner dogs, a 12 year old pit bull that is now wearing diapers due to her oh-so-wonderful incontinence, and a toddler that screams after an hour of being strapped in his car seat.
Ya. This should be fun.
The plan is to stick to my sons normal nighttime routine, only to perform this earlier than normal so that when we hit the road he falls asleep and stays asleep through the night. On one hand I fear that he will wake up or stay awake and cry the whole drive, and on the other hand I fear him sleeping the 10-12 hours and waking just as we arrive at our destination and is roaring to start his day while I'm ready to crawl into bed. Essentially, I see myself arriving in California just in time for a lovely sleep deprived headache to set in to ruin my first day home.
In preparation for the trek my husband has purchased headrest TVs for my car (although is yet to install them...), I plan on bringing an insane amount of snacks, I will be turning my sons car seat to be forward facing (for this drive only) and we will be starting the drive in the evening in hopes that he sleeps for the majority of the trek.
To say I am not excited for the long drive is obvious. Why would anyone volunteer to sit in the car driving through 3 States that appear void of any human life with 2 Weiner dogs, a 12 year old pit bull that is now wearing diapers due to her oh-so-wonderful incontinence, and a toddler that screams after an hour of being strapped in his car seat.
Ya. This should be fun.
The plan is to stick to my sons normal nighttime routine, only to perform this earlier than normal so that when we hit the road he falls asleep and stays asleep through the night. On one hand I fear that he will wake up or stay awake and cry the whole drive, and on the other hand I fear him sleeping the 10-12 hours and waking just as we arrive at our destination and is roaring to start his day while I'm ready to crawl into bed. Essentially, I see myself arriving in California just in time for a lovely sleep deprived headache to set in to ruin my first day home.
February 18: Phase 3: The Move In and Move On
The drive went by quick and there were no issues to report. Nathan slept almost the whole drive, as did the dogs, and my mother and I made sure to stop often and to trade off driving to give one another a bit of a break.
Since arriving back in California I have tackled the necessary insurance changes, address changes, etc, while Nathan roamed and explored his temporary new yard. He is happy as can be, but seems to really miss his Daddy.
Since arriving back in California I have tackled the necessary insurance changes, address changes, etc, while Nathan roamed and explored his temporary new yard. He is happy as can be, but seems to really miss his Daddy.
Here's a little personal background to help make this scenario make a bit of sense: my husband is currently in the US Army, but is in the process of being medically discharged due to injuries sustained while serving. The process of being released lacks any sort of time frame or set schedule so for the time being I am living with my mother back in California until my husband can join me and we buy a place.
I expected the transition to be more difficult for my son than it really was, and to be honest I still feel like I'm on vacation. My husband was able to drive down the last two weekends to spend my birthday and then Valentine's day with us, which has been wonderful as I am missing him just as much as Nathan is.
We will be 'moving' again when my husband and I find a home out here and our household belongings arrive, but I am not worried in the slightest about the transition since my now 16 month old travel companion has proven to make such changes not just without incident, but more exciting and worthwhile.
