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Make the Transition to a New Portland Home Easy on Your Kids

by | May 20, 2013 | Buyer Tips, Seller Tips

Make the Transition to a New Portland Home Easy on Your Kids

Moving to a new Portland home and, in some cases, to a new location all together, can be an exciting event.  It can also be a difficult thing, especially for children.

When a move means a new Portland home, new school and new friends, children realize they’re leaving their comfort zone for the unknown.  This can be frightening, especially to very young children.

Along with packing up boxes and making plans for a move, parents need to spend time thinking about how to make the transition as easy as possible for kids.  Following are some suggestions for doing just that:

  • Make a scrapbookLet your kids take pictures of friends and places they would like to remember.  Then put together a scrapbook you and your kids can take to your new home and look at, especially when homesickness strikes.
  • Listen to your kids:  Children often have fears that they don’t share with their parents.  Your children may be very ambivalent about moving, but afraid to say so or don’t know how to put it into words.  Take time to discuss the move with your children.  Ask them how they feel about the move and then talk out any fears they may have.  Don’t dismiss the fear of making new friends by simply saying “of course you’ll make new friends.” Explain that you’ll also be without friends and together you’ll meet new people.
  • Visit your new Portland home:  If possible, take your children to the home you’ll be moving into.  Let them visit their new school, walk around the neighborhood and play at the local park.  Giving them a chance to visit the place they’ll soon call home will help alleviate some of their fears and perhaps even get them excited about the move.  If physically visiting your new home isn’t possible, virtually visit it.  Help your children explore their new hometown online.

Need to move to a new home?  Whether you want to move within Portland or you need to relocate to another state, I can help.  Check out more useful articles on the Portland Real Estate Blog.