MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!
Moving is an integral part of Coast Guard life. Every few years, we get orders to some new place, and the process begins. Sure, someone will come in and pack our household goods up for us, load them on the truck, and take it to our new "home," but that is just a small part the moving process. Leaving your home, your friends, uprooting one's children can all be very difficult for even the most stoic of us. There are ways to make this less traumatic, and the unknown, less frightening. 1. Find out as much as you can about the area you are moving too. There are some links below to places that can help in this process. Chamber of Commerces are great, and the Armed Forces Hostess Association will provide free military related information about most areas as well. Their telephone number is: (703) 697-3180. 2. Make a connection with someone who lives where you are moving too. Get in touch with the Ombudsman for the unit your husband is going to. She should be able to answer questions for you, and help to relieve some of your fears. If this doesn't work, There is a link below for the Our House "Welcome Wagon." The volunteers on the list should be able to help you out there. If you are lucky, maybe this will even be the beginning of a new friendship. 3. Housing -- the scariest part of all. Get in touch with the housing officer of the new unit as soon as you have orders. If there is government owned housing, ask for floor plans, what the
neighborhood is like, what schools the children will attend. Make sure that the housing application gets filled out and sent in ASAP to help reduce any waiting time when you arrive. Cultivate this resource
because the housing officer can be your best friend or your worst enemy! 4. Contact the schools where your child(ren) will be attending. Get information about the schools for your kids, make sure that records are forwarded to them from the school they are leaving (this helps a lot in the long run), get copies of your children's school records if the school will let you. This saves some hassles on the other end, and will make the transition a bit smoother. Also, see if you can
arrange a pen pal or two for your child to correspond with. (It makes the move less scary when they get the scoop on the new location from someone their own age.) 5. If possible plan a house hunting area familiarization trip to the
area before you make the actual move. When moving to a large area this will let you look at different neighborhoods, commuting time, schools etc. This is especially helpful if housing is not available or you do not qualify for housing. 6. Do online searches for information about the area. Once you find a good site bookmark it. Be sure to search for newspapers that serve the area (check the links on the main Relocation page). You can gain a lot of info right off the Net. 7. Discuss your fears and apprehensions with your spouse (and kids). This can avoid some major fights and you can all bring out your feelings about the move. Also let kids know it is okay to be nervous about moving to a new place. 8. Try to keep a positive attitude and look upon the move as an adventure. A new beginning, but not necessarily an ending. Keep in close touch with the friends you have left behind, and help your children to do so as well. Plan fun things to do while traveling to your new home, it gives everyone something to look forward to. All of these things, plus the suggestions given at the links below will make a world of difference!
Coast Guard Spouses | Words of wisdom for new CG wives! | My Moving Related Links
- CG Spouses.net Relocation Forum
- Travel Pay, Allowances etc. explained here
- Moving Countdown Checklist
- CG Spouses.net: OUR TOWN
- CG Spouses.net Relocation Tips
- Online Newspaper Site
- Read the newpaper for where you are moving
- On The Move
- FULL of information for the military move
- Kristy's Homepage
- Has relocation/moving discussion board....great spot to go and discuss your moving woes!
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