Tips For Moving With Kids

Moving cross town or across the country can trigger an incredible amount of stress.

How do you think it feels for your kids?

Moving is one of the most traumatic life events kids face. Let’s review a few moving tips for kids to make relocation as painless as possible.

Communication is Key

Fear of the unknown is a powerful fear, and it is an especially relevant fear for children. Think about the unknown that awaits your child on the first day of school. The fear of the unknown magnifies for relocating your family, as your kids have no idea about what to expect during the move and about what to expect in your new home town.

Spend the time necessary to ease the fear of the unknown by thoroughly explaining what is about to unfold.

Allow Your Kids Time at Your New Home

The greatest fear of the unknown for kids during a move involves wondering what kind of friends they will make in their new city. Someone once wrote “familiarity breeds contempt,” but the person who wrote that timeless axiom was not talking about relocation.

Give your kids the opportunity to adjust to their new home by allowing them plenty of time to meet the neighbors, as well as enough time to explore what your new city has to offer.

Throw a Going Away Party

Celebrating the past, while embracing the future is an important tip for moving with kids. Just how do you celebrate the past, while embracing the future?

The answer is by throwing a going away party.

Ask your children to invite their closest friends and make sure to have the food and entertainment that appeals the most to them. Simply packing up your stuff and moving away is not an emotionally healthy thing to do.

Speaking of Packing

What is one of the most effective ways to get your kids to buy into a move? By making them a vital part of the moving process. Ask your children to pack their own things to give them a sense of ownership in relocating your family. Kids want be a lot like grownups and by packing their own stuff, they get the same sense of responsibility adults feel when they prepare for a move.

Do Not Shrug off Complaints

Let’s face it: Kids hate it when adults ignore them. In fact, nothing turns off a child more than an adult that does not listen to him or her. Moving will elicit many complaints from your children, including whines about being hungry and shouts of “How long until we get there.” You can expect questions about your move to come at a rapid pace, so make sure you apply patience to any query made by your kids. Not only do you demonstrate that you care, you might also alleviate some of the fear of the unknown.