Raising Happy Kids
The First 100 Days Checklist
A printable, week-by-week plan for your first three months in a new town — from finding a pediatrician to your first family tradition.
6 min read
The first hundred days in a new town are the difference between an address and a home. This is the checklist we wish someone had handed us — not the moving-day one, but the one for the weeks after the boxes are gone.
Week 1: Basics
- Change your address with USPS, bank, and employer
- Locate the nearest urgent care and pharmacy
- Set up trash and recycling pickup
- Meet at least one neighbor — a wave counts
- Walk your block after dinner, every night
Weeks 2–3: Systems
- Transfer pediatrician and dental records
- Register the children for their new school or program
- Update your driver's license and voter registration
- Find your library and get cards for everyone
- Identify a Saturday-morning breakfast spot
Weeks 4–8: Community
- Say yes to one invitation, even if it's not perfect
- Try one thing that scares you a little — a class, a club
- Find a park with a bench you like
- Introduce yourself to the school director by name
- Host one small gathering, even for four people
Weeks 9–14: Home
There is no medal for a fast belonging. Give it three months, then look up. You will be startled by how much of it has become yours.
- Hang the last five things still leaning against a wall
- Start one family tradition that costs nothing
- Take a family photo in front of the new house
- Write down the names of your neighbors' children
- Notice, out loud, that this is starting to feel like home