Ten Tips for Moving with Children
We just bought a house in Cedar Rapids. Now it’s moving time from the rain of the Northwest. Many of us moved a lot when we were kids. Moving is hard, but moving can be traumatic for children. Kids don’t have much say in where they move or why they have to move. You are taking your children from their friends, a house they love, their neighborhood, their school and teachers, and they may be a wet blanket without an umbrella when told about the move. We have ten tips for moving with children.
Here are Ten tips for moving with children.
- Once you have decided to move, call a family meeting. If you’re moving because of a promotion or a new job, tell your children that you’re excited about it. Explain why you took it and how it will impact the entire family. Tell them how you feel about the move. Encourage them to express their feelings and concerns. If this is their first time moving, it could be particularly difficult because they’re leaving their family home. Share with them your first move Let them know you’ll be depending on them to help out during the move, from packing to settling into the new place.
- Involve kids in the planning as much as possible. Make them feel like participants in the house-hunting process. You can make the change feel less forceful upon them. Show them images and information about the houses you are considering. Ask them what they like about each one. Let them know you’ll consider their comments.
- Children of different ages react differently: Kids younger than six may be the easiest to move, as they have a limited capacity to understand the changes involved. Kids in elementary school may be relatively open to a move, but still need serious consideration and help throughout the transition. The locked in stone may be the teens. They may actively rebel against a move. Your teen has probably invested considerable energy in a particular social group and might be involved in a romantic relationship. A move may mean that your teen will miss a long-awaited event, like a prom. It’s particularly important that you empathize with them and that you understand their concerns.
More of the ten tips for moving with children
- Purge – Go through the house with the kids deciding what must go to the new house and what will stay. Create a “toss pile” of clothes and toys that they no longer use. They can be given away or sold.
- Prepare for a moving sale. Have the children help prepare for a garage sale and as a family decides how to spend the proceeds. Something to look forward to; a new flat screen TV, or the dog everyone wants.
- Research the new place. Start a scrapbook of things to do and places to go in the new location. Encourage them to go online to research schools, the community, the local paper and magazines.
- Howstuffworks suggests one of the last things before the move should be a “See You Soon” party. During the party, make sure everyone exchanges contact information and take photos of your kids with their friends. Between texting, e-mails and phone calls, your kids should be able to maintain old friendships while transitioning to their new surroundings and making new friends.”
- Make a memory book – The memory book is one of the ten tips for moving with children and can be a real source of stability to have pictures of the old house, their rooms, and friends.
- Say goodbye – Have a family meeting or a final family dinner in the old house, and each tells what they most liked about the house. For example, you can tell them how much you valued their help growing artichokes in the backyard. Be grateful for all the old memories and look forward to making new memories in the new house.
- After unpacking, tour the city. If there is a guidebook for Cedar Rapids, sit down with the kids to plan some fun outings around the area. Whatever you choose to do, it’s important to engage your kids and show them all that the new hometown has to offer.
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