Someone help me!

[fourbeautifulgirls]

First off I want to say that I feel totally selfish starting another thread about ME (I have quite a long spiel on a Colorado thread), but I have so much going on...I just need a shoulder to cry on.

We are about to move to Colorado. This is a fantastic thing for us, so I am not bummed about that. However, we found this out about two/three weeks ago and since then we have just had to wait to find out what will happen next with the whole relocation package thing. He will be flying out next Thursday, so I am trying to be patient, its just that I cannot do anything until I know what is going to happen...are they going to help us sell our house... will they pay for a moving company...if not, how are we going to do all of this. We are in NC and have never moved this far before.

Next on the list, dh and I moved all of the playroom into the living room in order to set up a schoolroom/office. That was a MONTH ago. Everything is still in the living room and I have no where to put it (our house is toooooo small..even though we bought it three years ago)! Besides, we will be moving soon, so I will probably pack everything up...or a mover will...I DON"T KNOW WHICH!! I want to go through everything before we move but it is such a HUGE job!!

I never seem to get anything done with this explosion of a house that we have. We have a mountain of clothes on the couch, a path through the living room, and just mess everywhere!! I am trying to get things cleaned, but right after I come up from cleaning something, the girls have wrecked something else!

I am trying to home school the girls, clean up all of the mess, wash the tons of laundry and diapers, pack, or not...can't tell which, try to understand what we have to do to sell the house, go to physical therapy for my stupid hand that I broke on thanksgiving, and we are leaving for Charleston tomorrow (of course I have not even started packing!)

I also found out today that I have to have my second surgery on my DUMB hand and it needs to happen before we move...crap

i am going to loose my mind

Someone tell me how to fix this mess that I have made.

[mom2annika]

Deep breath....

I don't know what kind of relo package you might be offered, but it's pretty standard to have the movers bill your company directly. (That is, nothing out of your pocket there.) They may also give you a list of realtors and appraisers in NC to evaluate and inspect your house, and help you put it on the market. Then IF it doesn't sell quickly, they may offer to buy it from you, thus taking on the responsibility of selling it themselves. But at that point, you should be on your way to CO, and it becomes their problem, not yours.

If your experience is anything like mine (and we've moved cross-country several times), the relocation is subcontracted by the company that you work for to another company whose business is corporate relocation. They do nothing until you tell them to. But once you give the word, they can usually get you moved super-fast.

Good luck with your hand. Take care of that first, then call the relo specialists. If they pay for your move I wouldn't worry about sorting through everything first. Of course if you're paying you might want to sort and purge first, to save money.

Ooh, and when I listed our last house I hired a mother's helper for 3 days to entertain the babe while I scrubbed. She was a homeschooled teenager, so when the baby napped she helped me clean. She was awesome.

GL!

[Ruthla]

First of all, formal lessons can take a back seat until everything else is settled. If you're a structured kind of home schooler, call this "Spring Vacation" and then work through the summer. If you're more relaxed about "lesson plans" then there's even less to worry about in terms of "making up for lost time." Kids never STOP learning, even if you don't do any "teaching".

As for general decluttering and cleaning, try to get the girls involved with helping you! I'm not sure how old they are (and therefore how much concrete help they can provide) but even toddlers can help put away laundry. Why are there clothes on the couch? Stuff that needs to get put away, or out of season things or outgrown stuff that doesn't currently fit anybody and needs to get packed up?

Before you know what the relocation situation is, try to just to normal "household" cleaning and organizing, and don't think about any "packing" unless it's "do I really want to move with this or should I donate it somewhere?" kinds of decisions.

[want2bmoms]

take a deep breath...
NO, I said take a DEEP breath... hold it... now imagine all the strees gathering into the air in lungs... now blow it out through your pursed lips, like you are blowing on a candle but can't blow it out.

Start with the clothes. each member of the family gets :
-two or three pants,
-no more than four tops,
-one dress,
-three pair of socks and underwear (if one of them has accidents, double that and add a pair of bottoms)
-two pajamas.

Put these items in a suit case. Everything else gets packed or donated. If it got packed, put it in the storage closet, garage, attic, whatever. DO. NOT. OPEN. THESE. BOXES. Pretend they have already moved - I promise you can do without them!!

Take another deep breath like above. You can see your couch!!!

Now, toys. Get a big (or medium) box, devide it into equal sized sections for the number of children you have. (three kids, three sections...) they pick out their FAVORITE toys, to put in their section. EVERYTHING else gets packed, sealed, and "moved now" with the clothes. Toys get repacked everynight, in the toys to move last box. Warn the kids that if you see them out, they might get packed up, so it's important that they get put away!! - This isn't an idle threat, I have packed school books, half pairs of shoes, and eyeglasses, becuase I was in pack mode and they weren't put up. ( Now you know why I label every box.

If you need to, have hubby help you "move" after the kids are in bed. As far as your WHOLE family is concerned, these items are in CO NOW!

Trash goes out to the trash NOW. It won't hurt you to make a trip to the donation site everyday or every other. Get it out of your house - NOW.

I hate moving. I have done it 24 times in 25 years. It becomes a science after a while. If you don't want to deal with something, pack it. Label your boxes with what they contain, where they go, and WHAT IS INSIDE
you have to unpack this stuff to.

(I do it this way-
FRONT BEDROOM
BOX # of #
-T's pants
-T's underwear
-T's purple shirt
UNPACK FIRST

PLAYROOM
BOX# of #
-blocks
-dolls
UNPACK LAST

This way i know what I'm dealing with, where is goes, and if anything is missing, plus note about doing toys last, you are more likely to get the girls to help you if they aren't finding all the toys they have been missing - if you are using movers, pack your valubles in ONE suitcase and it moves with YOU - tied to the top of your car if necessary.)

The moving rules: if it is in your livingroom, it is fair game to move early!

All this should give you more room to take care of your kids and make life a little less stressful.

[want2bmoms]

For the record:

My last move involved 8 trips to the women's shelter, three to the ARC (thrift store in CO), and a wall of boxes stacked in front of our fireplace for about 10 weeks.

[twilight girl]

Two words for you: Merry Maids.

Hire someone to come in and clean/organize your house. Even if it's only once. If you can get back to clean/organized, then you can probably handle the maintenance from there.

You're putting way too much on your plate. Women here would think you're crazy!! Everyone has a maid here!!

I was losing it too. Working (translation from home) crazy hours, DH at the farm working crazy hours, DD in school and 7 mo. DS at home with me. The house was disgusting and it was overwhelming me. I finally hired a maid again, and she just came in two days last week totally recuperated the house and did the laundry. I can breathe again, I can think again!!

I sure hope she comes back on Monday!!