Moving Long Distance with Kids: From Breaking the News to Meeting New Friends
Moving home and moving to a new area altogether, is a major moment in your life, so you can only imagine what it feels like for your kids, who may be leaving the only surroundings they have ever known.
The journey might begin with a search for home builders in Collier County, Florida, but before it culminates with you getting the key to the property that will be your new family home, there are plenty of things to sort out before that point.
Maintaining a regular routine
There will be a lot going on in your life right now and so much to sort out in order for the move to go ahead and for the transition to be as smooth as possible, but if you have kids, you will know how much they rely on a structured routine.
If there is one thing that can create a sense of anxiety amongst kids, especially toddlers, it is when they are not able to take comfort from doing all the usual things that they are familiar with on a daily and weekly basis.
If you want to avoid stressing your kids out unnecessarily at such a time of change, try to make it your goal to keep their routines unchanged as possible, despite the fact that you have so many things going on and to sort while planning your move.
If they are old enough to understand exactly what is going on, make sure you pick a time where they are calm and relaxed to explain that you are moving to a new house and going to be making some new friends along the way.
If you can keep a good regular routine, it will help them to take this news more calmly and it would also ensure that they are not so stressed by the prospect of such a big change in their life.
Help with packing
If you are doing the packing yourselves, try to get your kids involved with the process, by helping them to pack some of their own things ready for the move.
Seeing everything gets packed away can be a bit upsetting for some kids, but if you involve them with some of the things that they want to put away for the journey and try to make it as much fun as possible, this can help them to cope better with what is happening.
On the day
Depending on how far you are going to be traveling to your new home, you will need to make appropriate plans to make the trip go as stress-free as possible and even becomes a bit of an adventure for your kids.
Make sure you pack plenty of games and healthy snacks and drinks. If you are going to be more than a few hours, try to schedule in some suitable stops along the way, where you might be able to break up the journey a bit, by stopping at an attraction for a couple of hours.
Moving long distance with your kids can be a challenge and a bit stressful before you start this new chapter in your life. Being prepared for the change and getting your children ready for the move, will help everything to go as smoothly as possible.
Emma Mills just started a new life with her kids; leaving Texas and relocating to Florida with lots of tears, terror, and tantrums. She shares her tips on a variety of parenting matters in her articles.
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It is challenging for parents to tell their kids they’re moving because many times kids don’t want to move far away from their friends. My sister just went through this with her kids so they pursued buying a house near their kids school so they would be happier. It worked out.