When a family decides to move to another place, it’s the kids who are often resistant to relocating, especially if they’ve already made friends in their old neighbourhood. The move is often met with trepidation and even hostility.
But as long as you keep the communication lines between you and your kids open, you might be able to make your relocation a lot easier with lesser hassles. Here are some more tips.
Break it to them gently
Say, for example, there’s a great deal for land for sale in Donnybrook, Victoria and you just have to grab this opportunity. What would be the first thing you’ll say to your kids?
Whatever it is, don’t insist that moving to another place will be great for them because kids won’t see it that way. Instead, tell them what they can expect from this relocation. Open up the communication lines and let them share their thoughts about the move even if everything they say is negative.
Give them a soft opening
If the place you’re relocating to is just nearby, then perhaps you can take your children to their new home on the weekend and make it a day trip around the neighbourhood. Do some research in advance and look for places in the new community that will interest your kids.
If the neighbourhood has a local theatre, for instance, take them there and watch a movie with the whole family. If the community has a beautiful bike trail near your new home and one of your kids is an avid mountain biker, then take them to that trail and enjoy the experience of biking through the woods with your little ones.
Most kids don’t like to move to another place only because new things either scare them or don’t interest them. But if you show them that the new neighbourhood has many wonderful attractions that will interest them, their resistance to change might soften a bit.
Explain why you’re moving
It can also help if you explain to your kids why you’re moving in the first place, especially if some of your children are no longer toddlers. Kids who are in their teen years are more open to a reasonable explanation.
Before you explain to them the reason for moving to another place, tell them first that you understand that this relocation thing is hard for them. Let them know you understand their pain and sadness caused by being far away from their friends and that you never intended to separate them from their best buddies.
But then, the whole family has to move because mommy has a new job in another place and, she has to take this opportunity because it would mean living a better life for the whole family. The new job could mean that the family can buy a bigger house or the kids can go to a better school.
Just explain to them clearly and sincerely that you all have to move to another place because better opportunities are waiting for you there and that you want your whole family to have a better life.
