Moving ... How to manage it ?

So my husband and I cam across this great opportunity to reduce our cost of living and give our family a better ''quality of life''. That means ...WE ARE MOVING by the end of summer before school starts. I love my current house but the other one is far bigger so we can grow our family and for daycare ...the setup is perfect and would be in a completely separate. My house is not up for sale yet and my families do not know either yet. The people living in the other house are looking to move by mid-August but could move sooner. Now this new place is not very far from where I currently live so maybe my families will choose to follow me, maybe not as it is in another township.

My question is how would you tell them and when ? I was thinking to let them know before we put our house for sale and maybe give them a chance to see the other place if possible. ( It could be ). For those who have moved a daycare before, how did you manage it ? Have you taken time off, did you advertise spaces ahead of time ... Juts so much to consider.

Thanks for your help

Hi! Very exciting for you!

We moved last summer. I told my families that we were moving once we had listed the house...but before the sign went on the lawn.

It was a bit different for me though as I was also closing for mat leave at the same time.

I would start advertising before you move in, at the very least to get a feel for who's looking for daycare!

Good luck with your new adventure!!!

All of my moves were completely out of the city and in some cases out of province too so kids coming with me was not a possibility.

I always kept the kids as long as I could because it was best for my own kids to maintain normalcy as long as possible and not have them stressing for several months before the move. At the same time I needed to recognize the need for some families to leave as soon as they had found a replacement caregivers - and yes there were always lots of tears when we moved all around.

I usually told the families about the same time as the for sale sign was going up although it had been speculated on for months as we usually found in January that it was a possibility and then in March/April the where and when part - not of our choosing (military). Then the date was normally for July so everyone could finish out the school year. That was a good time for families and some simply used a high school student for the summer while they made new arrangements for Sept.

If you think it is possible that some families will be able to move with you then you might want to start by preparing a moving package for each one - give a picture and map of the new house with the access streets clearly visible to show how easy it will be to get there. Explain the new daycare layout and why it will be so much more wonderful than now, parks in the vicinity, etc. Let them know the approximate timeline for moving but also that it will depend on the sale of your current home. Give them the plan for doing daycare while house is up for sale and what that will mean for the daycare - like lots of walks around the block during showings. Also make sure they know the amount of time you will be taking off for the move such as your two week vacation period or whatever you plan to do. The least amount of time you can have between closing one daycare and opening the other even if it is just ok guys here are some boxes of toys to play with for the first few weeks the more likely families will continue with you.

The biggest thing is not to take it personally if a family decides to leave care when you move or to leave soon after you announce the move. Although the more notice we give to familiess that more likely they are to leave early it also gives you more time to advertise in your new area saying that you will be moving there and when you will open and how many spaces etc. Possibly if it is that close you would be able to interview families in your current daycare where they can see what you have now and then know it will be even bigger and better in the new place.

Congratulations on the move. Always nice when the move is for positive reasons.

I moved last summer as well. I told my families as soon as I knew I had financing and the close was in sight. 3 of my families came with me as it wasn't too far, but I did wind up losing one as it was far enough to be difficult for her to make the drive (she was also very pregnant). 2 families still remain. I officially opened the new daycare in August and am full and turning people away. Hopefully your move has the same results :)

I didn't close, but it was hard. I maintained the daycare in the old location, while moving things a bit at a time after I closed each day. I spent one weekend painting like a crazy woman and getting the daycare centre at the new house set up enough that it was usable. Being a single parent, it was stressful! Once that was done, I had parents bring kids to the new location and would go to the old house in the evening to move more stuff and clean. Fortunately, my children are teens and could be left alone. It might be more challenging if your children are younger. I would recommend maybe taking a week off to take some of the stress off. And if anyone is willing to watch your kids during the day, all the better! My best advice for now is to start packing immediately!!!! I had most of my rooms packed up before I had even picked my house out. It made life soooooo much easier. Boxes were colour coded so I knew which were daycare items so I could move them quickly and efficiently.

I would start advertising immediately....as soon as you know it's a sure thing. Get your daycare space ready as quickly as humanly possible and get some photos of it up. I really didn't get any interviews until I posted pics of the new space and could interview there.

Good luck and hang onto your hat! It's stressful, but fun as well. I had such a great time setting up the new daycare and it came out beautifully! Gained about 15 lbs eating fast food that I could eat whilst driving loads back and forth between houses though :(

Wow great advices ladies THANK SO MUCH ! I am happy about the move but very sad as I love my house and soooooooooooo stressed out about everything that needs to be done. I like to plan and know where I am going and I tend to be anxious about things so I guess I'll be having an exciting summer. I may just ask you to revise my moving plan once I'm done with it ;0)

We did this just a month ago. I took a week off for the move.......with pay......We did a new build and I designed a daycare on my main level. I told my families when we had signed with the builders and just three days before we listed my old house. It worked out so well. All the families came with me and love the new daycare space (which is 4 times bigger then before)
It was hard though, and a lot of work. I needed a vacation after wards. I should have taken more than a week!!!!!!

I moved last summer too (seems a lot of us did!). In my case, I was only able to give one month's notice because, although we had been thinking about moving for a long time and looking at houses, we did not know for sure if it was going to work with the financing, the offer on the new house etc. Everything was so touch and go that I did not want to tell them and then have the whole thing fall through and meanwhile they had all found new daycares. I lost all but one of my families because, although it is only about a 10-15 minutes drive from our old location, it is away from centre town, so would have added a lot of extra driving for everyone. I also offered them all the choice of staying with me temporarily until they could find something else because I knew one month was not much notice. For me, it worked out by chance that I had planned a week's vacation time right at moving time anyway...so we just moved then and I reopened after my week off with the daycare pretty set up (although I only had one kid!). I started advertising before I moved, but couldn't start interviews until we had moved and set-up. I was full within a month and turning people away as the new house is really well set-up for daycare and in an area full of families. I hope you will be just as lucky! Good luck! So exciting!