Moving house? Things you should do to help your children settle into their new home.

A child engrossed in absorbing her new surroundings 

Hello there parents. There are so many reasons why you could be moving house. And most of them would be nice reasons. :) You could be moving because of a better job you bagged. You could be immigrating to a new country. You could have bought yourself a bigger, better home. Whatever the reason, when you move to a new home, your children are going to be affected.

The neighbourhood, the streets and the friends that are associated with the place you are moving out of would not affect you too much. You have mobile phones and social networking to be in touch with the friends and acquaintances you made. Or, you could be looking forward to moving closer to your friends and family with the new home. But remember that little children do not use Facebook to poke each other. In most cases, when the parents move house, all old friendships for the little ones go kaput.



Though you have so much to plan and execute while you are counting the days to move into your new home, spare a little time and effort for your children. Here are things that you must do to help your children make a smooth and happy transit to your new home.

- Talk to your children before the move and explain what is happening. Why you are moving and where you will be going. Be straightforward and answer all their questions.

- From sadness to excitement, your children will have emotions associated with the move. These feelings are normal; so let your children know that it’s okay to express them.

- If possible, visit your new home well in advance of the actual move. It helps a child feel much less apprehensive if they have a picture in their mind of where they are shifting to. Be sure to highlight some of the nice things about the area you are moving to, such as a great playground or a beautiful lake.

- Make sure that you recognize their need to say goodbye to friends. Let them have a party and invite people over. Gather email addresses, Skype usernames and phone numbers in case your child wants to keep in touch with old friends.

- When you arrive at your new home, give your children plenty of say in how they decorate their new rooms. This will help them to feel like they have control over their environment and they won’t feel so lost.

- Support your children in making friends at their new location. Sign them up for a club, introduce them to other children in the neighbourhood or invite another family over for dinner. The sooner they make a positive connection, the more settled they will feel. 

Remember that young children are extremely sensitive. They are completely dependent on the parents and are constantly evaluating the moves that make the parents happy and love them more. It is the way children are wired. You could assume their silence to be a sign of them having settled in but that may not be the truth. Keep asking them questions about how they feel in their new home and neighbourhood. Your attention and effort is going to be worth every minute spent. After a hard day's work, you deserve to come home and listen to all the happy stories your children have to tell you. Happy stories will only come from happy children who have things to do and friends to do them with.

Cheers!

Isn't that lead image of the sitting child beautiful? Check out the photographer's page here...

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