Washed It!

Moving home is a stressful time for anyone, especially if you have young children. The Collier County family is an upwardly mobile one, and often strives to improve their situation, including moving to different areas to improve their career or lifestyle. What follows are some tried and tested tips on minimizing the stress of moving on young children.

Moving is a busy time, so make sure you set aside to time dedicated to your children. Depending on their age, explain what’s going on and that you might be busy and distracted until it’s all over. Involve them where you can in planning, visiting the new home and choosing furniture.

If you can visit the new home, see if you can check out local parks or play areas too. Their new school or day care may let you have a look around, removing many of the unknowns from the impending changes. This will help the transition as children can be scared of the unknown. Introduce the new environment in a positive way and see if you can’t meet a couple of the local children.

If they have questions, answer them honestly and enthusiastically. Be warm and caring and get them as excited about the move as possible by painting it in a positive light and highlight benefits of the move to them.

We know that children like to feel included in everything. Why not get some special moving boxes for them and let them pack their own toys or special things? Make it a size they can carry themselves, let them decorate it and put their names on it. Build it up to be a “special” box and let them keep it with them during the move. You’ll be surprised how attached they get to them and keep them long after the move.

Saying goodbye isn’t easy for any of us, certainly not for children. Waving goodbye to everything they have ever know can be a wrench, and we want to make that process as easy as possible for them. Let them know it’s okay to feel sad, that it’s natural and that you feel sad too. Let them air their feelings and talk about it at length. Play moving games with them and get them used to having boxes around.

Once moved, try to return to the established routine as quickly as possible. It will take a while for them to get used to their new reality, but the comfort of the old routine in the new place will help them along. Talk to them about how they feel and reassure them everything’s okay. Let them keep their “special box”  if they like and give them as many opportunities to meet the local children as possible. New friends are the magic tonic to curing feelings of displacement.

Moving is going to be stressful for the parents too, but we have to suck it up and get on with it. Being strong for your children should be second nature, but make sure the stresses and strains of a move are kept as far away from the children as possible. They are amazing, adaptable creatures and will soon get used to their new reality.