Moving is a major life event and it is often stress-inducing. You are about to change your home, your street, sometimes even a town or a country. All of this can make you feel all sorts of things and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. If you, as an adult, go through a lot, you can only imagine how a child perceives this massive change. However, every big transition can be easier overcome if you simply prepare your child properly. Use some of these tips and your child won’t have much trouble adjusting to your life in a new environment.
Talk to your kid
One thing you should definitely do is to talk to your kid. Make sure to get the kid involved from the very start. Even when the whole moving thing is just an idea, talk to your kid. Make sure to discuss with him or her the reasons why you’re moving, the new neighborhood, and the kind of future you’re going to have in the new home.
All of this will make the kid feel involved and he or she won't have the feeling that this is something bad that is happening to them. Instead, they'll have a chance to agree or disagree with you and get to the best possible solution. This will also help them feel more in control of the move and they won’t take it as tragically, no matter how much they don’t want to leave your current home.
Help them sort through their belongings
When moving, there is a lot of clutter involved. All of a sudden, the place is full of boxes and you need that one thing that is at the bottom of the box, but you don’t know which one. Naturally, you open every single one of them until you find the thing you’re looking for. All this trouble, only for you to start packing things all over again.
On the other hand, if you encourage your kids to go through their belongings long before the move, you decrease the chances of making such clutter significantly. If you leave sorting things for the last day before the move, you'll be in trouble. On the other hand, having the kid do it before early on in the process will help you sell, donate, and trash everything just in time. Plus, you won’t risk losing anything of your child’s precious belongings.
Don’t do much redecorating
Even though you may find it tempting to completely redecorate the kid’s room, that may actually be a bad idea. If you feel like promising your kid a new bed, new curtains, or decorations for the room, you should think twice before actually doing it.
Moving is a huge change on its own. If you add completely new living space for your kid as well to things already confusing situation, you may achieve the opposite of making them settle faster in the new home. However, if you want to buy new things, you can buy them before the move. That way, the kid will already get used to them and associate them with the idea of a home.
Visit the new home
To make this change as seamless as possible, you need to make the new home your new normal. One of the ways to do so is to visit often. You should visit the house at least once with your kid before you move there. Make sure to talk of your future there – where you’ll eat, spend time together, or go grocery shopping.
If the new home is within biking distance, what are you waiting for? Grab your bikes and go look around the new neighborhood. If your kid doesn't already have a bike, make sure to change that and look for some kids bikes for sale and get to your future home as soon as possible. This kind of visit, in particular, will make your kid get familiar with the neighborhood and get the feeling he or she belongs there.
Keep the kid updated about the move
When moving, a lot of things can change along the way and a lot of unsurprising things can happen. Once you realize that you have a solid plan for the moving day, share it with your kid. This will help demystify the moving day and keep their head clear. If the id only hears about moving experiences from TV shows or from their peers in school, they will be expecting a lot.
Not all of their expectations might be positive. Instead, they might feel like the world is ending and it’s your job to ground them and make them feel better. Make sure to tell them the exact date of the move well before the date arrives. They’ll need some time to adjust to the idea and to come to peace with it. Create a detailed timetable of your activities during that day as well to further help them cope with the transition.
Listen to your kid
Talking to your kid doesn't just mean inform the kid of all of the decisions you've already made. Instead, it means giving your child an opportunity to speak as well. No matter how important the move is, you should always have time to listen to your kid's wishes and concerns.
You shouldn’t forget that this is a rather stressful period for him or her. The last thing you want to do is add more stress into their life. If you encourage your child to share what he or she is feeling, you’ll be able to solve their concerns easier. Make sure to be empathetic and listen carefully to what they’re saying.
Establish a routine
Finally, the thing that will help your kids settle in the new home the most is a well-established routine. All you need to do is create one. This may seem easy, but don’t get fooled. Make sure to think through everything well and establish a routine that will keep the whole household functioning properly.
Once you arrive at the new home, you'll have a lot of unboxing to do. This may drive the whole family crazy. To avoid that, make sure to keep regular mealtimes and bedtimes. This will bring in a sense of control and it will keep everything run smoothly. Having at least some form of predictability is always good and it helps everyone cope with large changes such as this one.
Conclusion
Moving is stressful for the entire family. You have a lot of things to plan and schedule and your kid has to deal with things such as changing school or fear of losing his or her friends. It gets hard on everyone, but with these steps, you’ll be able to maintain a positive atmosphere in the family life and move with no problems whatsoever!
