Two years ago I sat on I-75 in rush hour traffic with a crying baby in her carseat. We had been on a 3 day journey from Virginia, stopping along the way to help break up the trip. Upon arrival I stood in the living room of our new house with a billion moving boxes needing to be unpacked. My husband walked in the door that evening from his new job excited to see that we had arrived, and all I could do was cry. I was now 14 hours away from the only place I’d ever called home.
Uprooting and moving is very hard in so many ways. You feel like you are essentially starting over. You are building a new nest. Your feelings are all over the place. One moment you are happy for new opportunities and the next you are sad because you don’t even know where the closest Target is.
Building a new nest gives you the chance to start new traditions and memories with your family. I long to be able to drive a short distance to have Christmas dinner or a Fourth of July cookout with our families. But starting traditions as a family or with new friends has become something we look forward to.
I learned quickly that you have to get yourself out of the house, as soon and often as possible. Once you’ve found a pathway to the front door through all those moving boxes, get out of the house. I used to load my daughter up for a trip to Target or the grocery store with just as much excitement as a trip to a tropical island. Getting lost was a huge part of learning the area. We went somewhere just about every day – the park, store, Post Office, met my husband for lunch, pool, etc. Getting dressed made me feel normal in a new place. When just going to Target no longer sufficed, I learned that I needed “daytime support”.
When you move somewhere new you, you are on the search for a Pediatrician, Dentist, parks, mom/tot classes, library story times, and every other child related thing. You also have a billion questions about bottle weaning, sleep training, and what to feed your toddler for lunch. Add to this the hours of venting that you want to do when your baby has been up since 5am and you know they aren’t going to take an easy nap.
You need daytime support. You need moms who are right there in the trenches with you.
I joined a Moms Group shortly after moving, and it was a saving grace. I was able to get recommendations from them, everything from our Pediatrician to their favorite grocery store. More importantly than recommendations, they are there for you. When your husband walks out of the door to go to work in the morning and doesn’t return until after dinner time, you need someone. Not only does your child benefit from the social interaction, but sitting with other moms and chatting away over a cup of coffee does the mom soul so much good. Find those moms because they will become your family.
My ultimate saving grace upon moving was the sweet face of my daughter. She had no idea what was going. For her it was a playground of cardboard boxes and a new room for her toys. Anytime I got lonely or missed dinners with my family, I would look at that sweet face and remember that she needed me. And really I needed her.
Michigan has become our home and as hard of a transition as it was, we are happy with the new nest we have built here.
Are you building a new nest? Share your journey!
So glad you are loving your new home and making new traditions! I know it wasn’t easy leaving “home” but you have done a great job making a new home for your family! Thank you for sharing!
This has been so helpful to me! We are moving to Michigan from Australia at the end of this year and some of the doings you talk about are feelings that in just know I will have. I think I might save this post to read again and again!