Moving can be quite stressful not just for adults but for children as well. While adults can look forward to moving with only the financial and logistical work as the hustle, for kids this is an emotional event. For those who have never moved before, and coming at a time when they have built friendship networks and attachment to the place, it can be unsettling at the very least. Your role as the parent is to ease the anxiety and any fears the children may have. Here are a couple of tips to help you when moving with kids:
Inform Them Early
Having reached a decision to move to another location, ensure you tell the kids about the move early enough. Preferably have an open family meeting where you let them know of the plans and listen to their feedback.
Make Them Part Of The Process
One great way to reduce the anxiety of the children is involve them in the process as far as their age allows. There are several ways you can do this. For starters, in case you have older children, have them help you in the selection process when you have narrowed down your options.
You can also have the kids help in packing and unpacking as well as decorating the rooms. Where possible take them to the site of the new home to allow some early familiarization with their new surroundings. This helps them get accustomed to the coming move.
Early Preparations
Just as you need enough time to settle out things before the move, so do kids when it comes to adjusting to the move. Early preparations allows that to happen and you can always have this discussion daily to get their feelings as well as assure them of every step taken to ensure they are catered for. Early preparations also allow you and the kids as well as the movers Barrie to negotiate and find solutions to unforeseen issues as well as the contentious ones.
Farewell Party
For those kids who have friends nearby, a farewell party is always a great chance to have the kids say a proper goodbye to their friends. It communicates to them that you care about their feelings and helps them have a smooth, settled move away.
Closer To Their Items
Let the kids have a bag with their things at a place they can easily access. This is essential especially for the smaller children as the familiarity of their possessions allows them to be relaxed during the journey. Give the kids a chance to pack their essential items and where you need to declutter let them understand and be the ones to do it.
Event/Celebration After The Move
You can ease the anxiety and speed up the settling in the new environment by having a family time at one of the local attraction sites. It helps with taking in the surroundings and creating some good bonding time as the family plans on how to move on after the move.