Animate an html element as it repositions

[Roanek]

I'm looking to have a wrapper div with any number of child divs styled as boxes. They should be arranged starting with the first in the top left, progressing down the screen till no more can fit at which point it creates a new column. I would really like for the boxes to reanimate to the new positions if the window is resized or the content of the boxes changes.I can't seem to be able to animate this flexbox though as I'm not really using the standard for its proper use :/ No properties are changing so I can't add CSS transitions. I've followed what the following answer says:How to have a smooth repositioning of child elements when resizing a container?But the trouble is, once one of the boxes is set to absolute, it loses its position in the flexbox order and the rest of them rearrange to places they shouldn't.I feel like a solution other than flexbox would be better, but after a couple of days of looking, I can't seem to find anything. Is there any kind of solution I can use to achieve child elements positioned in rows that are animate-able?