Tips and tricks on moving with kids.

Need help with your move? Here's some advice about moving with kids from the book "How to Survive Your Move" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $13.95), straight from people who've done it:

    _When you're going to move from place to place with kids, give them a backpack and tell them, `Whatever you want to take needs to go in there.' That way, it's not you deciding what toys they want to take; it's them. You explain to them that everything else is going to be carted up, and for the next 30 days or so, they're not going to have other toys."
    _Thomas M.W. "Mike" Downs, Syracuse, N.Y., 21 moves
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    "When moving with children, encourage them to be creative in meeting new friends. We moved when one of my daughters was in the fourth grade and she got a list of all the neighborhood's fourth graders and sent them letters saying, `Would you be my friend?' One of the little girls said, `I already have a lot of friends, but you can never have too many.'
    _S.F., San Antonio, Texas, 8 moves
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    "Picking out paint colors for the new house is an important task. You need to paint a really big swatch and hold it up in the light before you can be sure about the shade. We had our older kids paint some shades we were considering onto big cardboard pieces. We just spread out big sheets underneath for the clean up. And it didn't matter if the painting wasn't perfect. It saved us time, was fun for them, and helped us finalize our color choices.
    _C.H., Los Angeles, Calif., 6 moves
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    "Don't be overprotective and think you need to coddle your kids. You could end up doing more damage than good. For an older kid, being walked into school by Mommy can lead to a lot of teasing and make it harder for them to integrate well."
    _MISSY Missy, Detroit, Mich., 10 moves
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    "Because a move is a scary thing for little kids, try to make it as exciting as possible for them. Let them help decorate their new room and pick out the colors for the walls. Try to get them to see it not as a big change but as an exciting adventure to a new place. Point out all the good stuff about the new town. Take them to the park near your home. Don't dwell on the stuff that was in your old town.
    _Anonymous, South Bend, Ind., 2 moves
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    "Give your kids structure as soon as possible.When we moved from suburbia to an intown location with our two kids, one of the first things we did _ accidentally, actually _ was find our `hangout restaurant,' the place we could turn to whenever there were no other options. The biggest benefit of the restaurant, aside from the good pizza and beer, was that the kids found a place they would be comfortable with. Every time we'd pass by, they'd point it out. It helped them feel like part of the neighborhood.
    _JWAIII, Atlanta, Ga., 15 moves
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    "A walk through your old house and neighborhood will allow a child to say goodbye to favorite things. Pictures, videos, and other reminders can help, too.
    _Pediatrics Health Monitor
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    Hundreds of Heads Books' survival guides offer the wisdom of the masses by assembling the experiences and advice of hundreds of people who have gone through life's biggest challenges and have insight to share. Visit www.hundredsofheads.com to share your advice or get more information.
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    (c) 2008, Hundreds of Heads Books, Inc.