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4 Ways to Make Moving Easier on Your Kids

Moving is never easy on anyone. We all tend to resist change at times, and moving your home base and everything that comes with it is one of the biggest changes you’ll ever experience!  Whether you’re crossing city or state lines, or just upgrading to something different down the street, you can expect your kids to experience varying degrees of stress. 

That’s because even after the physical move has taken place, what tends to affect everyone the most- especially kids- is the change in surroundings. For kids, that means their school, extracurriculars, friends, and even things to do for fun will be different. That’s a great deal of change! Here are three ways to help make things easier on your kids during a move!

 

Talk About The Move

If you’re going to move, you need to plan for it as early as you can. That also means you have to inform everyone in your household—your kids included of course—that they have to start preparing for it. Never tell them about the relocation a few days before D-day.

Parents and their 3 children sitting in the living room talking together.

Sometimes we mistakenly think it will be better to keep our kids in the dark to protect them, when in actuality it will be better to communicate with them about what’s going on! Talking to your kids about the plan for your move will help them to feel less overwhelmed or thrown off by the big shift that will inevitably take place.

Sit down with your kids to talk about when and where you’ll be moving to, why you need or want to move, and how this will be a great next chapter for your family. If they have any questions, get them the information they need, such as what school they’ll be going to and where it is. You can also try to familiarize them with the new area you’ll be in with context clues such as “our new house will be near where the Johnsons live” or a landmark your kids know such as  “we’ll be closer to Chick-fil-A!” Anything to help start visualizing their new surroundings will be helpful in orienting them when the move happens. 

 

Be Open to All Emotions A little girl squeezing her stuffed animal in her room.

Some kids may experience anxiety or sadness before, during, or after a move. They may be mourning the loss of their school or neighborhood friends, or worry about making new ones. All of these things are not unusual- in fact, they’re quite normal! Doing things such as taking the time to identify tough emotions, talking about them, as well as highlighting positives about the move will all be beneficial parts of parenting during this time.

 

Get The Kids Involved in Moving

There’s plenty to do to get ready for a move, and your kids can get involved, too! Turn packing into a game of “keep, donate, or throw away”, and enjoy moments with them reliving memories when you bring out old keepsakes that you haven’t seen in a while. 

What might be most exciting for your kids is looking to the future with a fun plan for a new room scheme or decorations they can pick out. Consider taking a trip to IKEA and letting them choose a couple of new items in an effort to get them excited and involved in the process of setting up shop in your new home. If you want to go all out, you can get them excited about decorating their new room. Do they want their new room to be dinosaur themed? What about painting a rainbow mural on the wall? The possibilities are endless. Need inspiration? Head over to our Kid’s Decor & Design board on Pinterest! 

If possible, you could also drive around your new neighborhood and look for fun new things that your kids will get to experience, like kids their age playing in the surrounding yards, or a nearby field where they can explore. If you’re building a home and are able to go inside of it, let them stand where their future new room will be and get them excited about how that will one day be theirs! Whatever you can do to include them will go far.

 

Recognize it as a New Chapter

mom reading to her two children in their home

Despite the unavoidable stresses of moving, it truly is an exciting time. Moving on to new things and getting outside of our comfort zone is what helps us all to grow- especially kids. Not to mention, children are incredibly resilient, and they’ll bounce back from whatever is thrown at them in no time. Soon you’ll be enjoying your new, beautiful home together and creating a lifetime of memories!

Date

08/05/2019

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