By Vanlines.com
Moving can be a stressful time for everyone, but it is often the littlest members of the family that get most lost in the shuffle. Can you tell how your young child is dealing with seeing moving boxes everywhere and everyone packing up?
It is important to remember that all the running around you are doing--dealing with real estate agents, contractors, property closings, moving companies, friends and family--is translating as a general sense of confusion and disorder to the children.
Often, kids are not sure what to think about moving. While the idea of new friends, school and home is exciting, there is also an element of grief. No matter how eager they are to relocate, there will be places, things, and people they will miss. And when moving is brought about by a death, divorce or job loss, the sense of loss and sadness is more acute.
Here are some tips to help your young child deal with a big relocation and come out healthy and happy on the other side:
Tell the kids as soon as possible about moving.
It is pretty natural to assume that the less time kids have to think about moving, the easier it will be for them to deal with it. However, experts say it is actually the opposite. Children need time to ease into the idea of moving.
Let junior pack some boxes.
Make preparing for the relocation family fun time. Kids love to be involved, so give them some packing supplies and let them box up their own rooms.
Explain why you’re moving.
Be to the point when trying to explain the relocation to younger children. Use words they can understand and stay very positive.
Keep that positivity going about everything to do with the relocation.
Be it packing, cleaning or hauling stuff around, you’re going to need to stay positive about everything to do with the relocation. Yeah, you’re gonna need to fake it.
Questions, questions.
You may be busy, but you need to make time to answer all the questions your kids are going to have about moving. This is not the time to shut down the lines of communication. Make your answers honest, concise and upbeat. This is an opportunity to get the kids excited about moving.
Sell your children.
No, silly. Sell them on the idea of moving. Do your own research about their new school, parks, playgrounds, neighbors and any other features of the new nabe that they can get excited about.
Map it out
Get those dusty maps out of storage and show the kids where the new home is. Together, locate where you will be living and places of interest around the new neighborhood. If you are moving far, have a map that shows where you are now and where you're moving.
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