Not many children like learning that they have to move away from their town, home, school and friends. When you tell your children the news about moving to a new town, you will probably get a lot of reactions that will range from sadness to anger. Maybe your child will be joyful about moving, and that’s what you need to hope for but if your child isn’t too excited about the move, here are some things you can do to help them cope with it better.
Why are you moving?
It’s important to let your child know the real reason behind to move, whether it be because you or your spouse got a promotion at work or there has been a death in the family and you need to move away to go help other family members cope. There could be many reasons why you are moving away but you need to be sure that you are being honest with your children about why you are moving away.
Your children and their friends.
When it comes to moving to a new town, your children’s friends is what they will miss most so it’s important that you spend time talking to your child and their friends about why it is you are moving away. Talk to the children about how they can still talk to one another and if the town is still pretty close be sure you let them know that you will drive them into town once or twice a month to see one another.
If your child doesn’t already have a cell phone, consider getting them one so they can easily stay in touch with their friends.
Talk up the new town.
Tell your children what to expect in the new town and tell them what is cool about this new town. What types of malls are there? How many arcades are there? What cool places are close to your new house? What kind of school are they going to be attending? It’s important you talk about the new place you are moving to so they know what they can expect when they arrive.
Don’t try to control their feelings.
If your child is upset, don’t’ try and change that. There isn’t anything you can do to make them be 100% happy about the move. They will be sad and you should allow it. If you try and tell them to stop being upset than they will just become more and more upset since you’re trying to control how they feel.
You know how they feel.
Be sure you remind them that you are leaving friends and other things behind as well. Tell them about a time when you had to move schools, if you ever had to, and let them know that you eventually made new friends and you learned how to deal with the new school and accept the situation for what it was.
