When does it go back to normal?

[justamouse]

we just moved. Because of the insanity of this past year, I had plans to school all year round. Homeschooling was put on the backburner. We're one month into the move and can someone please tell me when a sense of normalcy will return? Moving is hard enough, but this...really, I thought I'd have an easier time of it. My plans, they all went awry. How long does it take for everything to start functioning well again?

[tex-mex]

:grouphug: It takes time. It took me 2-3 months with getting back on board with homeschooling and unpacking. I feel for you. Try aiming for at least one or two boxes a day. And have the kids do some independent work. HTH.

[Liz CA]

Some smart person once wrote a book about this and figured out it takes at least 6 months to feel somewhat settled and beyond the worst of the upheaval. To feel "at home", it can take at least a year.

 

How to get back to normal?

I am a listmaker, so of course I'd make a neat little list. Priorities first:

 

1. Get house in order to such a degree that meals can be cooked and everyone knows where their clothes are and has a place to sleep.

 

2. Once # 1 is accomplised, find what box contains the school books and assign one subject per day per child until the house arranging is done, the new driver's licenses are in the mail, the post office has received your change of address, etc. Let most of the pittly little things fall into place before you jump into full bore homeschooling.

 

3. Don't worry about any delays or timetables. It all rights itself eventually. I know this because my ds is 19 now and despite my many failures, he turned out fine, academically and otherwise.

[justamouse]

Liz, I can do lists. They help me think.

 

Wendy, you are further ahead of me, but you're doing it which gives me hope that this too will pass.

 

Most of the *extra* school stuff had been put into storage (for 2 years while the selling/streamlining took place), and I had kept out bare bones. It's like Christmas in my homeschooling room and it's totally overwhelming.

 

Oh Tex, thank you. Ok, so I'm looking at another month perhaps two. As long as I know that I can mentally allow myself to take the time to settle it all.

 

Someone needs to write a book on how to homeschool and move.

[truebluexf]

Sometimes it seems like never!

[Brenda in FL]

I'm with you . . . We moved two months ago and there are still boxes all over the place. I tried getting back into my school schedule but the last few weeks we have done nothing! But I have been working more on getting these darn boxes unpacked. (Now its the hard stuff - things I don't need on a daily basis - but don't really want to let go yet - or some do need to be sorted through and I just don't want to!)

 

I've pretty much decided to not let myself stress about the schooling we haven't finished. My goal is to get the unpacking done so that we can start the new year fresh in August!

[nd293]

We moved house 4 days ago. It's a 10 minute drive from our old house, but I feel completely wiped out. I swear this is just as difficult as moving country (which I've done twice in the last decade). We took the past two weeks off and where supposed to get back to school this week, but it seems highly unlikely. We've moved into a much smaller house, it needs some work, and we don't have the storage we need. The books are all in boxes in what was supposed to be our schoolroom, and we don't even have a desk or table to work on yet.

 

Liz, your advise is great. I have managed to get #1 sorted out. I was just going to assign some sort of history research to cover #2, but dd9 is really not motivated enough to be left to her own devises. Right now she is sobbing in her bedroom because I have told her she is not to come out until she sorts her room out (all my polite requests have been ignored, and not always respectfully).

 

And we have a visitor coming for a week in 1 months time.

 

Nikki

[Parrothead]

We move frequently. We've had 6 moves in 11 years. I always unpack every last box within the first two weeks. Used to be within the first 2 days but I'm getting older and we have more stuff.

 

Once everything is unpacked the house feels settled, full school can commence again and every one feels more at home.

 

Then I start the local network going. Frequent trips to the library, church, local businesses are in order. Meet the people you will be seeing fairly regularly. Find places to volunteer. Get the kids enrolled in outside activities as soon as possible. Most start in the fall. Contact the local homeschool group person and make arrangements to do some activities so your kids can start making friends.

 

Usually within 4-5 months we are starting to feel our niche. (I say usually because the last town we lived in was absolutely horrid. Entirely too small and remote. In the 2.25 years we were there we never felt at home.) Then expand and start looking for personal activities - book clubs, fitness centers, etc.

 

The fist step is making a concentrated effort to get every thing unpacked. Until then you can't get back to a regular schedule. Make a concentrated effort to have every box unpacked within the next two weeks.

[Peela]

I am probably weird but last time we moved I just unpacked manically full time for a solid week ,a dn was done. And believe me,we have a lot of stuff- even the moving guys said so. I knew I couldn't homeschool again till the unpacking was finished,so I just did it. And then, returned to homeschooling immediately because the routine of it helps us all feel settled.

I guess everyone is different though, and my kids weren't little.

[holdoll]

We move frequently. We've had 6 moves in 11 years. I always unpack every last box within the first two weeks. Used to be within the first 2 days but I'm getting older and we have more stuff.

 

Once everything is unpacked the house feels settled, full school can commence again and every one feels more at home.

 

Then I start the local network going. Frequent trips to the library, church, local businesses are in order. Meet the people you will be seeing fairly regularly. Find places to volunteer. Get the kids enrolled in outside activities as soon as possible. Most start in the fall. Contact the local homeschool group person and make arrangements to do some activities so your kids can start making friends.

 

Usually within 4-5 months we are starting to feel our niche. (I say usually because the last town we lived in was absolutely horrid. Entirely too small and remote. In the 2.25 years we were there we never felt at home.) Then expand and start looking for personal activities - book clubs, fitness centers, etc.

 

The fist step is making a concentrated effort to get every thing unpacked. Until then you can't get back to a regular schedule. Make a concentrated effort to have every box unpacked within the next two weeks.

 

:iagree: This is what we do and it really is the least painful for us.