Moving from a family home can be difficult for kids. Sometimes it can feel to them as if their friends, memories, and perhaps even a bit of identity are being left behind in the home they love.
Check out these 4 ways to help your kids feel excited for the move and settle into your new home:
#1 Include them in the process.
Although you may not want take them along to every home showing (especially, depending on their ages), involve them in the home-buying and moving process. Perhaps, once you identify a home that you are interested in and before you purchasing, let them have a look around and give them opportunity to express their opinions.
#2 Validate their feelings.
Support your kids through the process. This not only means helping them feel excited about the move, but it’s also important to acknowledge any feelings of discomfort or sadness about the move. Give them time and space to express these feelings in a healthy way.
Moving is a big deal at any age and even if your kids are excited for the move, they will likely experience mixed feelings throughout the process. Your support through these feelings will help them feel secure, at a time that can often feel as if their security is being ripped away.
#3 Make a space for them to call their own.
Whether it’s choosing a paint color for their bedroom or buying a new bike or scooter to ride around the neighborhood, allowing them to make one or two small decisions may help them to feel a greater connection to the new home and neighborhood.
Doing so might allow them to feel a healthy sense of control over their circumstances, during a time when they may feel that they are losing control and stepping into an unknown environment.
#4 Help them get involved in the neighborhood.
If your new home has neighbors who are around their ages, you might walk over and introduce yourselves together. Maybe there is a neighborhood swim club or sports team– whatever it is, help them settle into the community. If your children will be moving schools, they may be faced with the reality of making new friends here as well.
Support them through this process, and remember setting an example of how to meet people and make friends may put them at ease.
Moving family homes can be an exciting adventure, but this may come with nerves and feelings of uneasiness too. As you support each other through the process, use this move as an opportunity to grow together as a family unit.