PCS season is upon us…..but what happens when you are not one of the families to PCS? Perhaps it’s your off year and you’ll be prepping for a big move next year. Perhaps you haven’t moved in quite a few years and you’re itching to move and explore a new duty station. Whatever your reason, you still play an integral part of someone’s PCS experience.
Here are 5 Ways to Help Ease the PCS Move for a Friend
Help watch their kids while they pack up
We’ve all been in super packing mode. It’s the time when you get tunnel vision with checklists and timelines. There’s barely enough time in the day to get everything done, and even less time to do the regular parent things like feed your kids, get them to/from school, shuffle after school activities and more. If you’re a parent, you know. The struggle is real. So if a friend or neighbor of yours is in the midst of a PCS move and packing up and coordinating the moving trucks, offer to watch their kids. Take them to school or the park and let your friend have time to do all the things in peace. They will really appreciate it.
Unload any extra boxes you may have
Raise your hands if you have random boxes stored in your attic. What to do with all those boxes? Simple. Give them to a friend or neighbor preparing for their big move. Boxes can cost upwards of $2 a pop at Walmart and it’s the best way to unload boxes you aren’t using to help someone else. Hopefully, someone will pay it forward when it’s your turn to move.
Host a garage sale to help them unload
Early PCS season is the best time to host a garage sale, as it coincides with spring cleaning anyway. Encourage your friend to go through the things they haven’t used during this station. Chances are, there are things that have been packed up the entire time. Help organize times by three categories: keep, sell and donate. Make a fun event out of going through their things (there might be some items you can snag for yourself too), label everything for easy distribution, and pick a date on the calendar to host the garage sale. They’ll appreciate the extra money for the move too!
RELATED: Host a Take-My-Stuff Party
Organize a going-away party
Good friends and neighbors are really hard to come by. And although the military community is keen on saying, “see you later” and not “goodbye,” it’s still a sad and harsh reality that moving will create separation between you and your friend. Host a going away party and let your friend know how much you appreciate them. Maybe do a theme of “favorite things” and invite all your mutual friends and neighbors for one last shindig before they hit the road.
Promise to stay in touch…and really do
Goodbyes really are so hard. We have all had our share of saying goodbye far too many times. The silver lining is that while it can be sad, you are actually growing your military family. Who in the civilian world can say that they have friends all over the world quite literally. Take a friend’s PCS as an opportunity to travel and visit. You may not be PCS’ing this time around but think of the potential adventures you’re gaining. This military life is one big adventure and it really is what you make of it. After your friend moves and gets settled in their new home, make plans to visit them.
If your friend is looking for a real estate agent that understands the military lifestyle, head to MilHousing Network, where you’ll find qualified agents with a passion for working with military families. Keep MilHousing Network in your back pocket.
As a military family, you need a real estate company that understands your unique needs. At MilHousing Network we connect military families with pre-screened military real estate experts all over the country. We’re built by military spouses to help military spouses and military families PCS better. Every home sold within our network directly supports the military spouse community by creating employment opportunities for our fellow spouses. Join our Facebook group.
Sonia Garza is a proud Green Beret wife, mother to two, founder and editor of Spouse Connexion, an online publication for military spouses, and is a content writer for MilHousing Network. She resides in JBLM, WA. You can reach her at soniargarza@gmail.com.
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