Practical Ways to Help Someone Who’s Moving
Moving earlier this year was insane, and I learned a thing or two along the way. That’s why i’m hoping this post will help you help someone who’s moving. Because it really does take a village.
This was the first time we’ve done a move on our own (instead of having the military move us), and I did the majority of the move on my own (with our three young kids) since my husband was already deployed.
Y’all, I was so stressed out over it my body started to literally twitch.
This isn’t going to be a “how to pack and move your crap somewhere else” kind of post. This post is for your friends on the other side watching you freak the heck out. These are some things friends did that will forever stick in my mind as being extremely helpful.
How YOU Can Help Someone Who’s Moving
If you know someone who’s moving soon, take note.
And if you’re the one who’s moving…share this with your friends!
If you’re military, check out my FREE PCS printables in case you need even more help with your move!
COFFEE.
Yeah, this first helpful tip is in all caps, because moving is hard, y’all, and sometimes you need an extra jolt to get the job done.
Plus, coffee pots get packed up and put away just like everything else. Help share the burden of waking up every morning without a nice warm cup o’ joe with a gift card for coffee.
Fun fact: you can actually send a Starbucks gift card via email, so they can get it in an instant.
This is an awesome, thoughtful option, especially if you live away from your friend.
To my friends who sent me Starbucks gift cards: THANK YOU!!
Watch The Kids
This is a big one, and is probably one of the most helpful things you could do.
I had a lot of offers to come help me pack, but honestly, I didn’t even know what I was doing, so it was hard to have someone else come help me.
But the one thing we really needed? Someone to watch our kids.
We had amazing friends take our kids for hours at a time on the weekends, and even some week nights, while we went town on packing up the house.
The kids were out of our hair, and were having way more fun than us yelling at them to not play with stuff we just packed up. Win/win for everyone!
To my friends who watched our kids: THANK YOU!
Help With Essential Tasks (Like Laundry)
I totally planned on doing my own laundry…until the hotel’s washer and dryer were on the other side of the complex, on the SECOND floor, with no elevator.
I don’t know about you, but that sounded like my version of hell with three (not-so-helpful) kids. Thankfully, friends came to the rescue and let us use their washers and dryers.
Actually, I didn’t even have to ask—friend’s practically insisted that I used them, which was even better and bypassed the awkwardness of asking.
If you’re weirded out by someone using your washer and dryer, here are a few things to ease your mind: You don’t have to touch dirty clothes! Friends let me into their homes (even when they were out). I tossed our stuff in the washer, turned it on, and was out the door in about two minutes flat. And even when they were there, it didn’t have to be a big ordeal—sometimes I even left the kids inside the car, ran inside and said a quick “hello and thank you,” started the washer, and then we all went on with our day.
Other times I brought my load over while the kids were playing and let the wash and dryer cycle do its thing.
It was such a small act to let us use friends’ washers and dryers, but it literally saved my sanity (and some money) on more than one occasion.
To my friends who let me wash our dirty, dirty clothes: THANK YOU!
Feed Them
If your love language is serving other people, here is an excellent way to do that.
The nights that friends brought over food to our (empty) house, or to our hotel room were some of my favorite nights.
It’s always fun to think about eating take out or pizza every night, but in reality that gets old (and really expensive) pretty fast.
If this idea sounds good to you, keep in mind that you don’t have to go all out and make something elaborate.
If you make dinner, just double it and bring the surplus over. Have extra soup? Put it in a container and bring it over.
Maybe have your friends over for dinner or lunch—hanging out in a hotel room or empty house gets depressing after awhile.
To my friends who fed us one way or another: THANK YOU!
Gift cards are SUPER helpful, too
Short on time, but still want to serve someone with food? Give them gift cards to their favorite places or some place near them. A food delivery gift card is also a great idea.
The best part is that these can be used even on the other side once they’ve already moved and haven’t unpacked everything quite yet.
Set up a Meal Train
Check out the website Meal Train if this is something a group of people are interested in organizing for a family. It helps coordinate meals and days when everyone will take something. It’s super handy and makes it easy on the receiver to know what is coming and when.
Take Their Crap
Even if you purge the heck out of your house, you’ll still end up with so much stuff leftover that you either don’t need, don’t want, or can’t take with you for one reason or another.
Want to really help someone who’s moving? If your friend asks if you need something, don’t be shy or resistant to take it. Chances are if you don’t take it, it’ll go in the trash or donated. By the time things are in boxes and you have leftover stuff, the sentiment is gone and you just want things out of your sight.
This goes for food, too. Be helpful and just take allllll the things!
To my friends who took all our things (even when I practically shoved them into your cars), THANK YOU!
How can you help someone who’s moving?
I’d love to hear your ideas! Share some ways someone’s helped you, or how you’ve helped someone who’s moving.
