Making a move can be nerve-wracking for even the calmest of folks, but throw kids into the mix and you’ve got a new stress on your shoulders—how to make sure the move is smooth as possible for your entire family.
Talk About the Move As Early as Possible
If you are planning a move, don’t hold off on telling your children. It’s best to give them plenty of time to adapt to the idea and accept their new reality. Uprooting a child from their home can be traumatic in the loss of a sense of permanence. Make sure you focus on reassuring them that some things will remain constant. While you may move to a new city, a new house, all of their toys will accompany you, much of your furniture will be the same, and they can bring all the things they love. Expect tears, and allow them to fall. Reassure your child, and let them voice their fears. Keeping open communication will help answer any questions that may come to them. Remain a positive example; even if you’re bummed out about your move, show only positivity about it around your kids—it’s infectious.
Select the House Together
While you’ll make the final decision on which home you decide to purchase or rent, it’s important to make sure your kids know they’re an important deciding factor. Sit down and look through home listings together. Make a list of the things your kids want that you could realistically find—it could be a big backyard, a pool, or a special living room where they can watch movies. Incorporating their ideas and desires into the process will make the aspect of moving more exciting than scary, and highlight the good parts of the moving process. It will also give your children a sense of autonomy in the situation, as moving can often lead to feelings of helplessness in kids who are to be parted from their school and friends. Use listings filled with photos to find your home, like those on Zumper. Kids are visual, and letting them see exactly where they’ll be headed will do wonders to calm any lingering anxiety they have about it.
Remain On Your Guard
There are worries that come along with moving, and there are ways you can protect your family. It’s an unfortunate truth, but our world is filled with con artists and the threat of identity theft becomes more and more prevalent as the years go on and identity thieves become more cunning and technologically advanced. If you’re renting, always ask potential landlords to use tenant credit check services when running your information. This will prevent you from handing over sensitive info like your social security number and bank statements over to a con artist. When hiring a moving company, always get moving quotes first to make sure you find a viable, trusted company that will keep your belongings safe and ensure they end up where they’re supposed to. If you know someone who has moved in the recent past, ask who they might have used, as well.
Say Your Farewells
It’s important to give your children time to grieve and say goodbye to what they knew as home, especially if you’ll be moving cities away. This means dedicating time to saying farewell to special locations and special people. Bundle up the kids in the car, head to local schools, favorite playgrounds, and most requested restaurants for one last time. Focus on the positives and ask your kids to relay their best memories in each spot. This will help them focus on all the happy moments. Then, when you get home, have a little presentation of the exciting events you’ll try when you move to your new home. This will help them segue from happy moments of yesterday to happy moments of tomorrow.
Moving can be an exciting change for your family, and if you want to make a switch easier on your kids, use these tips and see them smiling from start to finish.
