Moving Out

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2007.

I read recently that moving from one home to another is the second-most stressful activity that a human being can undertake, so I decided to try it.

The first most stressful thing is death, which I think I’ll put off for a while. With death, though, there’s a definite end to the whole ordeal, whereas with moving there’s a sense that it won’t be over until you’ve experienced the first most stressful thing.

I made the decision to move the way women make the decision to have a second child: They forget how bad it was the first...