Aside from suitcases of clothes, toiletries, etc. (and DON'T forget swimsuits!!!) :
- Irreplaceable valuables (jewelry & photos), and pain in the neck paperwork (id, ssns, birth certificates, marriage certificates, school records) with you if possible.
ASIDE from that, I've moved about 20 times, and this is what you will WANT out immediately:
- Coffee Maker & 2 mugs (rofl... my parents are military, because it was impractical to bring their pot with them, they OWN more than 10 coffee pots. Because it's never in the box it's supposed to be in, or it IS, but that box ends up being put someplace weird. As we've all grown up and moved out, we all get the same gift from our parents: a coffee pot.)
- Movies for your child (TV is easy to find, it takes awhile -a few days to a few weeks- to set up cable or internet)
- Everyone's pillows
- lovies
- A single sautee pan (you can cook a lot in a sautee pan) and a spatula (plates, cups, cereal bowls, silverware all come in paper and plastic varieties that you can pick up on your first trip to the store)
- A lamp or 3 (you'll be amazed how many rooms don't have a light source), failing space for a lamp... nightlights. Cheap ones are fine. LOL... I can't tell you how many dark houses I've spent time in as a child/adult because there are only 1 or 2 rooms in the house with lights built into them.
- RED PACKING TAPE w/ OPEN FIRST; Bedding, Most Used Dishes, Kid's TV, etc written across from them. That way when the boxes are unloaded the "Must Have" items all get piled together in one area and you have your bedding, cartoons, etc in at least an 80% probablility of being unpacked with minimal effort.
((ROFLMAO @ Denise!! Yup! Movers, I think, get a KICK out of packing people's trash. They say "Trash" but most people hear "Trash CANS". ))