This month marks the two-year anniversary of my family’s move to Collin County. In that time frame, my family and I have adjusted to our new life here in North Texas. We haven’t acclimated to the intensity of a Texas summer, but we have immersed ourselves in the community and it feels as if we’ve always lived here. My husband and I have made great work and social connections. Both of our kids have settled into their school district and have made friends.
When we were considering moving from the Detroit Metro area (Michigan) to Collin County, I was concerned about how stressful the transition would be for our family, especially for our kids. Our oldest was entering her first year of middle school and our youngest was transitioning from being home with me to daycare. So it was vital that we make the move as stress-free as possible. The following tips were the secret sauce that made our transition a lot more manageable.
Also, be sure to check out Collin County Mom’s Suburb Snapshots for a closer look at many of our suburbs in Collin County!
4 Tips To Keep Your Move To Collin County Stress-Free
1. Get To Know Your City.
The main reason for our move was due to my husband’s new job and to be closer to his family who live in Collin County. Once we narrowed down which city we wanted to live in, we planned a week-long Spring break trip to visit the city six months before our move. We checked out the schools the girls would be attending, made sure everything was finalized with our housing, got familiar with the places we would frequent often (grocery stores, mall, post office, etc). My oldest daughter was able to meet a few kids in the area (in her cousin’s neighborhood) who would also be attending her new school. So when she started the school year, she knew a few familiar faces and that helped to make her first day at a new school so much easier.
I got a chance to drive on the local freeways (Collin County has SO many freeways!) and got an idea of the traffic flow at certain times of the day. This was super helpful when we finally moved. I have a small amount of gephyrobia/acrophobia (fear of driving over bridges and heights)…yes, that is a real thing folks. This “preview” really helped make the Tollways, 380, and 121 not as daunting and I was able to navigate them with confidence once we actually moved.
2. Connect With Local Online Neighborhood Groups.
Social media was my best ally when it came to making local social connections. I joined a few locally niched Facebook groups that gave me an idea of what was hot and what was not in the area we were moving to. I also used my interests to help me find a local fitness group to connect with for meetups. A few of the friendships I have today actually came out of the virtual connections in the local online group I joined two years ago!
Collin County Moms actually has many local neighborhood groups that you can connect with and get to know other moms before you move.
3. Join Your Child’s School PTA.
The local PTA at my oldest daughter’s school was a great resource to get me connected with the school and our school district. We moved a few weeks before school started that year and our local PTA guided us through the back-to-school registration process and gave us great inside knowledge on how to navigate the school year as first-time middle school parents. I was able to again make vital connections with local moms that still serve me to this day.
4. Automate As Much As Possible.
We saved a lot of time by automating a lot of the main everyday tasks we would need to address when we moved. Meals, housekeeping, and back-to-school shopping were a few of the everyday tasks that I needed taken off my plate. Meal services (we used Hello Fresh) and curbside grocery orders helped me to get nutritious food on the table quickly so I could focus my attention on unpacking boxes. We paid extra to have a housecleaning service come in the day before our arrival to do an extra cleaning of our townhouse. When my husband’s family reached out and asked us how they could help; we didn’t hesitate and enlisted them to help with the back-to-school shopping for us. Automation saves so much time and effort, and it doesn’t have to be hard or expensive to implement.
MOVING CAN BE STRESSFUL AND CHAOTIC FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. THESE TIPS ABOVE CAN HELP MAKE THE TRANSITION GO A LOT SMOOTHER PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY!
