Moving House With Kids

It is often said that moving house is one of the most stressful experienced in life. So moving house with kids must be on a whole other level! It is hard enough getting yourself organised for the move, let alone your little dependable. So here is a guide to help you stay sane and in control while organising your home relocation. First of all, it is important to remember that while you’re feeling stressed and anxious about the upcoming move, so are the kids. Moving is a huge life change and can really impact on kids. It is highly important to talk about the process with the kids so that they have a clear understanding of what is happening. If you are moving to a new area and the kids are changing schools, this can also have a significant impact on their emotional state. Leaving behind a home of familiarity and comfort is a huge deal for kids so this should not be overlooked while preparing for the move. This can be handled by doing to the following:-    Ensure that communication is open and honest. Let the kids ask questions and make sure you give them a realistic answer.-    Explain the process of the moving day. Kids can often be visual learners and absorb images and graphs easier. You can explain the outline of the moving day by using diagrams and giving them a written schedule of what times things need to be ready at.-    Encourage the kids to keep a bag filled with their favourite items and memories of the current home. This will help ease them into their new home environment when unpacking.-    Read some books about moving house. There are many kids’ picture books that talk about the stages of moving home. Let the kids know that it is ok to be feeling lots of emotions about moving. On the moving day, the kids are probably going to be feeling restless, anxious and a little unsure about what is going on. This is totally normal. To deal with the kids’ mixture of emotions, try doing some of these:-    Let the kids help when they can. Encourage them to take their own boxes to the removal van. This will give them a sense of ownership over the process and they will feel more in control of what is happening. -    Let the kids ask a few questions to moving company team members. They may want to inquire about the removal van and understand how everything is going to be loaded. Give them a few moments to ask some questions, and then make sure they understand they need to stay out of the movers’ way.-    Leave a laptop or tablet or out so the kids can play games or watch some movies, or some sports equipment to play with. The moving process is a long one and children have short attention spans. Don’t expect them to help for the entire time or be able to sit still without stimulation, especially when so much is going on around them. -    Have some snacks on hand for the kids, prepacked in containers. It is going to be a long and draining day so you won’t want to deal with your kids complaining that they’re hungry throughout it.-    Lastly, it is important that the kids get a real chance to say goodbye to their house. It may be the first house they ever knew and it is important for them to say goodbye so that they understand they are moving to a new environment.