The movers are coming on Monday and I'm completely disorganized

[Moomette]

Can't believe I've left everything so last minute, but the movers are booked to come in on Monday to pack up our belongings and I have only just started going through all the clutter yesterday In my defence, I have got an under 6-month-old baby to look after all day and night (who has just decided to wake up full of beans at 4:30am), but the panic is really setting in now. Will the movers still pack everything even if it is scattered everywhere, including in boxes of random stuff?

We also still don't know where they will park, as we live on a red route with no reserved parking and unable to get any special permit, so getting even a small truck parked outside to shuttle everything off to fill the container at a depot can be a bit hit and miss.

I guess I will laugh at it all in the future, but at the moment I just feel incredibly stressed out and like we'll never get there at all. Plus i'm dreading saying goodbye to my family and friends, especially my mom, who is here helping us at the moment for a few days

I'm sure it's not abnormal to feel like this, but I still wish I wasn't.

[Duncan74]

Removals will pack everything regardless, so if it's a mess in the UK then it will be all boxed and you'll get the chance to sort over here.

Red Route issue is one for them not you.

Just make sure you've got the stuff you don't want sending in the container (ie your flight stuff) in teh bath or some other clearly marked pile.

[YouMeAndThree]

Packing caused me the biggest concern - DH had already flown and I was left behind with the house to sort and 3 young children to look after. BUT, tbh once the packing was done and out the way it was quite a relief because it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. I was worried about the mess and the fact that we had all sorts all over the place. I think my trouble was it was all personal to me and I was trying to make sure that like for like things were all packed together, eg. trying to ensure childrens books were all together, puzzles etc. whereas the packers just saw the whole lot as something to pack no matter what. They arrived and just started room by room packing into boxes, they didn't worry that they had some cd's but the rest were in another room.

Once it was done I didn't have to worry about what still needed to be packed anymore, phew.

Hope it's the same for you too.

As for the parking - pretty sure the packers would have assessed that when they came to you, I'm sure you won't be the first they've moved from a similar area. After all, how did you and your neighbours all move in?

Best of luck

[JandM]

Yes, a BIG thing is to make sure that they all know (but you still police it) what is NOT to be packed.

Also, if there are things that MAF are likely to want to look at (e.g. gardening things, walking shoes, bicycles), try to be sure they go in the same box(es), as the fees go up the more things they have to open.

And keep an eye on how the contents of boxes are being listed for the inventory, as certain wording can suggest there might need to be inspection, when actually it's not the case. (For instance, if your exercise bike, which has never been outdoors, was labelled 'bicycle' or 'sports kit'.)

No, it's not abnormal, you're not alone in how you feel, and this feeling doesn't mean the situation itself is bad, just that you are in the middle of a huge effort, and out of your normal routine. Remember, you can still talk to all your loved ones very regularly (Skype, etc.). And we humans are very elastic when we try. Keep on looking for all the little good or funny bits in all this, as they ARE there, even while you're tearing your hair and crying at times. ((()))

[Moomette]

Thank you all for your kind advice. It just all feels so surreal at the moment, but I guess we'll get there in the end, and it's really reassuring to know that the movers will still pack everything even if it's all a bit of a mess. I just had nightmare scenarios in my head of them refusing to do it, or labeling everything as miscallaneous.

It's also a good idea to keep anything MAF might want to look at separate, so will definitely try to do that, and to make sure they label it correctly. Well, I guess that will partly depend on DD co-operating with me on the day. YouMeAndThree, I honestly don't know how you managed it all by yourself and with three little ones to look after, so hats off to you.

Today will be the hardest part of saying goodbye to my mom before she flies home, and even though we'll speak on Skype (as we have done so far between Finland and UK, it's still hard to imagine not seeing her for upto a year, and I know she'll be sad to miss seeing DD growing up.

It's great having this forum though to hear how others have coped with similar situations, so thank you

[Escapee]

Good luck with everything, Moomette. From what I've read on here packers will pack EVERYTHING including bags of rubbish, travel documents (so keep them somewhere safe) and their own van keys

[Moomette]

Well the movers have been, and all in all it went pretty well Luckily we managed to sort through a lot of stuff over last week and the weekend, but things were still in a bit of a state when they arrived this morning, plus of course there was no parking The movers however never complained once; well not to us anyway. They happily parked in a restricted area (and got a ticket, which I guess we might have to pay), and steamed through packing everything up and loading it into a truck. The only things left for tomorrow now are our master bedroom, which we asked to leave last so we could still sleep there tonight, and our sofas and TV in the lounge, which they kindly enough left for our evening entertainment

We went with Pickfords in the end after reading a lot of recommendations here, plus being happy with their quote, and so far so good. So bring on tomorrow and the impending flights on Saturday.

And thanks again for all your great advice and for putting my mind at ease when I was panicking.