Well, moving with kids is an adventure. I am by no means an expert, but I
have moved 9 times through 5 states and 2 European countries, all with kids.
There are a few things I have learned that I would like to pass on.
1. Get the kids involved as much as possible. As soon as you find out you
need to move, sit down as a family and talk about it. Tell your child(ren)
what, where, when and most importantly, why. Whether it's because mom has a new job, or because you need a smaller (larger) house, keep the kids
informed. The biggest mistake I ever did was pack up and move without talking to my daughter about it. She was shocked and scared, missed her friends, room and all her familiar sights and sounds. For anyone, having your world go "POOF" with no warning or reason can be terrifying. Later on, we got both kids in on it and they got to help look at each new place and voice their opinion. Then they got to pick their room (with mom's approval of course).
2. Talk Talk Talk!! Once you get the child to understand you are moving,
listen to them about how they feel. Are they scared of having to make new
friends? Will they like their new school? There are these lovely things
called Internet web sites built by the schools. We go looking to see what
school is nearest the new neighborhood, and look at the web site. Most towns have a site as well. This is just one way. We have also sat down with maps to chart mileage, time to drive, time zones, number of parks in the town and where the nearest skating rink is located. Then there is the local library to find out how many people actually live there, what it is (or was) like to live there, and pictures of the local landmarks. Give them the information they want to answer any questions they have. In one case I had gone so overboard, my child knew more about the new town than I did.
3. Give them choices. If you are creative and make your own accessories, use this as an opportunity to let them help make up their new room.
I get to clean out some old baggage and rearrange the rooms they pick out, and. I also plan on doing a lot of organizing. My daughter,
who is a teenager, seems unable to keep her floor clean. The usual look of it drives me up the wall and across the ceiling.
It's usually covered in everything from clothes to CD's. However, in her "new" room, I'm hoping she'll take pride in the way it first looks and try to keep it up, with new storage areas to help her. In all reality, I expect it to
last less than 10 days. We'll see.
4. When actually traveling, take some of the special belongings with you. We cheat. On one move, we drove 2400 miles over 3 days, and were in a hotel for a long weekend once we arrived. We packed a small television and a video game console with us so when we arrived, the kids were able to watch cartoons or play games in another room and let us grownups recover for a day or two. Another move, we packed a backpack for each of the kids with all new travel games and small toys. They spent 17 hours of an overseas flight totally entertained and got restless the last hour. Most parents daring enough to fly that far with small kids can deal with an hour or two, which is much better than dealing with them for 20. I have also leaned how nice it is to do most of the driving by starting really early in the morning. The kids all snuggled in their blankets and seatbelts, bunnies tucked under
their arms, snoring.... Kids are always angels when they sleep. Well, at
least mine are anyway.
Once again I must tell you I am no expert. But this is what has worked for
me so far. Oh, and good luck!
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