advice on helping kids adjust to a new house?

[binny]

well were down to the wire. We should be in our new house in about 10 days

Cam is excited but the girls have never lived anywhere but here. ( I cant believe I can say that lol with as much as weve moved around) Kaylee seems to be acting out quite a bit lately and I think its probably due to all the moving stuff. We've been living out of boxes for a few months now but now were actually going to be MOVING

I think she is getting pretty nervous. Cam never really cared about moving but I think its really bothering her.

SO how can I help her adjust? I know she will be fine when we get in and settled I just want to make it as aesy on her as possible

Tia
Binny

 

[NancyK]

We moved a lot when my kids were little. Before unpacking other things, we tried to set up their rooms and unpack all of their stuff. This way, even though the rest of the house was in chaos, their rooms were ready for them. I think they found some comfort in that.

 

[amid chaos]

Let them pack a box with their special toys and stuff. Then get markers and stickers and let them decorate the box. Their boxes should be the very first box in the house.

 

[shortbun]

I agree-set their rooms up first and
let them "unpack" their boxes. Have a
"new house" party. Take a tour and let
them "help" decide where things should
go-giving them 2 choices. Have their
favorite meals right away. Make sure
they know this won't be a regular
thing-moving. Write the old house
a good bye letter(how old are your
children?). When we moved into our house,
I asked the children moving out if they
wanted anything from their rooms-the
6 yo boy asked for his light fixture. We
wrapped it up and gave it to him. His
mom told us later that they put it in their
new home and he loved it. Assure them
they get to keep all their old stuff and that
nothing else will be changing, just the
house(if that's true). Have a great move.
mimi

 

[tiggerlover]

I have to agree with the others. Let DD pack her own box of her most important things and then when you move get the kids rooms back to the original order first. Also, talk to her about the new house and take her there to walk around and decide where her favorite things should be put.

 

[disykat]

I agree with the others. We moved when my kids were 5 and almost 3. My older DS pretty much packed all his stuff by himself - he thought it was fun. His room was the first room unpacked and he kept busy arranging while we worked on the rest of the house. Another benefit was that he slept like a log the first night.

 

[MerryPoppins]

My kids wrote a letter to the new owners of our old house. They told them why the house had been special to us. It seemed to help them turn loose, because the new family would think it was special too after reading the letter. We also did a room-by-room goodbye.

I also showed the kids that we had albums of photos with pictures of the old house. We would always own those memories (just not the house) and we could visit it in pictures whenever we wanted.

We also made an attempt to mark all their boxes clearly. (At least the ones with "important" stuff, so we could set them up early). Seeing all the familiar things around them helps. Anything that wasn't unpacked went in closets or another room so big spooky boxes weren't standing in their rooms.

I think my DD was afraid some of her things might be left behind, so I let her do a final walk-through to see that it was all packed up. She liked having an important job to do and it seemed to help.

There are a couple of good children's books about feelings in regard to a move. Can't think of titles right now, but you might make a trip to a library and tell the librarian what you are dealing with. Maybe they can help? Sometimes knowing others have the same feelings helps.

Let them plan your first meal in the new house. We had a pizza picnic in the new house. They were so excited about the pizza and finding our picnic blanket that it took the edge off.

One thing I didn't anticipate was that my daughter was scared of her window. It looked big and gaping to her that first night, even with the blinds. She was used to shutters and curtains, so it had her spooked. You might want to consider doing window treatments right away, too.

 

[MerryPoppins]

I forgot! Night lights were a big help those first few nights. If you have to go to the bathroom in a new, big house it's a little spooky. We had one in each bedroom, the hall and the bathroom. It seemed to make them feel better about striking out on their own.

 

[Robinrs]

Michael and I have moved 8 times in his 9 years....

Move #9 is next week!!

I always involved him in every step of the move. He's learned to see it as an adventure. He does his own packing and labeling now, and I've always made sure that we had his room ready when he got there. It's important that they see things that are familiar to them.

On moving day I would send him to the babysitter's or school and that night I'd have pizza (his favorite food) and videos set up for our first night. First night became a fun night for us. We'd sit up and eat on the floor and make it like a campout!

Just this morning he asked me if we were having pizza on First night!

 

[iLovDisney]

Originally posted by NancyK
We moved a lot when my kids were little. Before unpacking other things, we tried to set up their rooms and unpack all of their stuff. This way, even though the rest of the house was in chaos, their rooms were ready for them. I think they found some comfort in that.

Ditto!

 

[peg2001]

Children also react to the hustle and stress the ADULTS are going through, not necessarily to the new house itself.

We moved when my DDs were 3 wks and 3 yrs. The main concern my 3 yr old expressed was that we took ALL of our pets with us. We had 2 dogs and 3 cats and she was worried that we would forget somebody.

She adjusted very quickly to the new house. . .much faster than the cats!

Peggy