As you know, moving can be rough one the family, especially the children. There is so much to do, that sometimes the kids can get looked over when you start going through the belongings in the house. I have 4 children and they are all at different stages on their lives at this moment. Our oldest son is 19, oldest daughter 14 and then the youngest two are 6 and soon to be 8 in just a couple of weeks. The oldest two do understand why we are moving and are handling things pretty well, considering. However, the younger two kids are having a little more difficult time with the move. They do not understand why we have to leave our home, their friends and this area. They have especially become a little clingy to things as we have been trying to purge and lighten the load before packing everything up. This is how the blessings bags and boxes have come in handy!
So what is a blessings bag or box? It is just a simple garbage bag or a cardboard box filled with items that we no longer need and want to bless others with. My youngest daughter is a girly girl and loves her clothes. However, we just had way too many of them. Once I explained that we would be giving the clothes to other little girls in need, she had no problem with sharing her clothes. The same happened with her shoes and toys. Our youngest son would have given everything of his away if we had let him!
So far, the kids and I have given away 7 boxes of books, 6-7 bags of clothing, a box of shoes and a couple of boxes of toys. We have felt good unloading the items we no longer need, in hopes of someone else possibly needing them for their children. This has also been a good way to include the kids in the move. It is tough to begin with, with so many changes going on, yet when you let them help, it helps them feel good about themselves.
How do you help your children with a major change in their life, like moving? I would love for you to share your ideas with us.