When most people think about moving, the first word that comes to mind certainly isn't "fun." However, if your impending move is really stressing you out and you're looking for a way to lighten things up, the best thing to do is try to make your move fun. And while packing an entire household worth of items, hiring a moving company and loading all of your belongings into a truck may not sound like anyone's idea of fun, there are certainly ways in which you can enhance your moving experience.
So how exactly can you make your experience enjoyable and not stressful and frustrating? Since the tasks involved with moving aren't inherently fun or exciting by any means, it takes a bit of an imagination to think of fun twists to apply to these mundane tasks. Since you're most likely busy with planning your move and don't have time to dream up ideas to make your move fun, we've done the work for you.
Turn your move into a game
If the regular mundane moving tasks have got you down and you're looking for something to spice things up, there's no better way to do that then to turn it into a game. There are many different ways in which you can make a game out of your move, it all depends on how imaginative you are.
For example, if you're in the process of getting rid of some of your belongings prior to the move, you can create a game where the person to get rid of (sell, donate, etc.) the most stuff wins. Or if you're packing, you can assign a different room to each person in your family and see who can pack the room the fastest. Of course, throughout these games (especially the packing one) it's important that you preach the importance of packing correctly and safely, even if it sacrifices speed.
On moving day, you can create a competition to see who can carry the most boxes or items out to the moving truck. To make these games more interesting, you can even choose to have everyone compete for a prize to really drive up the stakes, like a gift card to the mall or a favorite restaurant. The prize will provide a little extra motivation for whoever is participating.
Play music
It's a known fact that music makes just about any situation at least slightly more enjoyable, so why not put together a personal moving playlist and sing along while you pack and go about your other moving tasks? The process of putting together the playlist can even be a fun activity. Try to find songs about moving or leaving home, and songs that you can relate to make the experience a little easier. Also, see if you can find any songs about the place you're moving to--if you're moving to a big city, you may find that this is a lot easier than if you're moving to a small town--but you may be surprised at what you'll find!
Once you've created your playlist, you can play it while you pack, sort through your belongings and do whatever else needs to be done around the house to prepare for your move. You can even play it on moving day--I'm sure the movers won't mind some tunes to help them get through the work day. They may even join in and sing along with you!
Find some creative uses for the food in your house
When you move, you typically won't be taking any food along with you, especially the perishable food. So your options for what to do with all the food in your pantry and fridge are basically two-fold: you can either throw it all out or you can cook it all up. Why not have one last big cook-out with your family and see how many unique recipes you can create using all of the different foods you have left?
If you've already packed all the furniture and have nowhere to eat, take the party outside to your backyard and have a picnic while you enjoy the last meal in your old home. Who knows, maybe you'll even stumble upon a great new recipe and a new favorite dish while you're throwing together different ingredients. Plus, you can save the leftovers and offer some to the movers when they arrive to move your belongings.
Photo by: Ambro (Freedigitalphotos.net)