How to Talk to Your Kids About an Upcoming Move

Eric Mitchell
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices C. Dan Joyner, REALTORS




How to Talk to Your Kids About an Upcoming Move

Moving can be traumatic for children if they aren’t prepared. Kids often fear the worst, especially when they have little or no involvement in making decisions and they’ve heard stories about other people’s negative experiences. Having some honest and straightforward conversations with your kids and encouraging them to ask questions and discuss their concerns can make the process as smooth as possible.
Give Your Kids as Much Information as You Can
Once you’ve made decisions and can provide firm answers to your kids’ questions, explain the move and the reasons for it. If you’ll need to move for a new job, make sure you have a firm employment offer in hand and at least a rough idea of when you’ll be moving.
If you’ve already chosen a house, tell your kids where it’s located. Take them there in person or show them pictures. Talk to your real estate agent and conduct online research to find out as much as you can about the new neighborhood and city and the schools your kids will attend. Focus on the positives, such as fun activities and being closer to family. Also discuss how they can keep in touch with friends online, on the phone, through visits, or a combination.
How to Prepare Young Kids
Keep your explanations about the reasons for the move and where you’re going simple and direct. If your young children are unfamiliar with the concept of moving, read books on the subject or act it out with toys and dolls.
Involve your children in the packing process. Let them decide which toys to pack first and which they’d like to keep close for security. Make sure your kids understand that toys that are being put in boxes are not being discarded.
If possible, keep your children’s bedroom furniture and layout the same as they were in the old house. Avoid other transitions, such as toilet training, around the same time as the move.
How to Help Teens Cope With Moving
Moving is often harder for teens because they’ve developed close friendships and possibly romantic relationships. They may also be involved in extracurricular activities and have jobs. You can frame the move as an opportunity to prepare for future changes, such as going to college or moving for a job, but your teen may express feelings of anger and resentment that could take time to subside.
Talk to Your Kids Openly and Honestly
Moving may be for the best, but it can still be hard for kids to process. Be as forthcoming and direct as you can with them so they won’t feel scared and overwhelmed. The more details you provide, the less their imaginations will have to fill in the blanks.

#yeahTHATgreenvilleagent #expectmore #realtor #realestate #realestateagent #bhhscdanjoynerrealtors #cdanjoynerrealtors #home #house #yeahthatgreenville #greenvillesc #homeinvesting #mortgage

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Help Home-Bound Teenagers Cope Stay-at-home restrictions are challenging for everyone, especially teenagers. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, teens – who would normally just be starting to enjoy life as independent beings in the world – are suddenly back under the purview of mom and dad. To make matters worse, many teens have had something extremely important to them suddenly ripped away: a lead in the school play, a varsity spot on the team, prom, graduation, a part-time job, etc. On top of that, their all-important social life is now off limits as well. What’s a parent to do? While nothing will come close to replacing the life your teenager had been living, here are a few strategies to help your teen cope: Make sure they’re informed. Teens are masters of disguising their true feelings, so don’t misread their cool demeanor as apathy. They might be getting the bulk of their information through social media, which is not always accurate and may be causing undue alarm. Be sure to calmly keep them apprised of the developments surrounding the coronavirus, explaining why the restrictions are important. Don’t withhold information out of fear of worrying them. Listen to a trusted news source together so that the information is coming directly from the experts, not their “overreacting” parents. Give them a social outlet. It’s critical that your teenager is still able to connect with friends during this time. Encourage social distancing activities they can do with a friend, such as hiking, running or biking. Let them take the car to a nearby scenic spot and hang out side-by-side with a friend in another car. Give them privacy to use the family computer to host a Zoom “meeting” or Google hangout with multiple friends. At all costs, make sure your wifi is up to snuff so that your teens can easily text, use social media and Facetime to stay connected. Help them earn money. Your teenager may be depressed about losing a job, but you can easily come up with some jobs around the house for your teen to take on to earn some money. Have them help you with some small tasks related to your job while you’re working from home, or a project that will get them outside, such as spring yard clean-up. While the financial incentive is a big plus, the real benefit is getting their minds focused on something other than the situation at hand. Keep student athletes in shape. While staying active is essential for all teens in this situation, it’s particularly important for your student athlete who is used to a rigorous work-out schedule, and could respond negatively to suddenly being sedentary. Check in with coaches to see if they’ve put a work-out schedule in place or are perhaps hosting online group workouts. Remind your athlete that keeping their fitness level up is essential so that they can return to sports without missing a beat. Embrace family time. While the hectic pace of life before the pandemic might have made you and your teenager ships that pass in the night, you’ve now got lots of time together, so make the most of it. Eat meals together, binge watch a series together, play cards, get the old photo albums out, etc. The idea is to make sure your teenager doesn’t stay holed up all day in his or her room. So make some interactive time mandatory.

Image
How to Help Home-Bound Teenagers Cope Stay-at-home restrictions are challenging for everyone, especially teenagers. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, teens – who would normally just be starting to enjoy life as independent beings in the world – are suddenly back under the purview of mom and dad. To make matters worse, many teens have had something extremely important to them suddenly ripped away: a lead in the school play, a varsity spot on the team, prom, graduation, a part-time job, etc. On top of that, their all-important social life is now off limits as well. What’s a parent to do? While nothing will come close to replacing the life your teenager had been living, here are a few strategies to help your teen cope: Make sure they’re informed.  Teens are masters of disguising their true feelings, so don’t misread their cool demeanor as apathy. They might be getting the bulk of their information through social media, which is not always accurate and may be causing...
Read more

Save for a Home with a Dollar-for-Dollar Match Program

Image
Save for a Home with a Dollar-for-Dollar Match Program A federal program helps low-income families buy a home with a unique method meant to encourage saving: It matches dollar-for-dollar what they save to buy their first home. The Individual Development Account, or IDA, doesn’t offer a lot of money to help with a down payment — up to $2,000 in federal matching funds with more contributions possible from local IDA programs — but it’s a start. Participants can start by saving as little as $25 — matched to as much as eight to one, depending on the program, though most offer one-to-one matches. Income levels must be 200 percent below their state’s poverty level. With an 8:1 match, IDA participants can raise much more than the $4,000 total with federal matching, and could have $10,000 or so for a down payment on a house. Most IDAs are funded by the federal government and are run by nonprofit groups and financial institutions, and grantee programs are required to raise an equ...
Read more

What To Do When Mortgage Rates Are High

Image
  What To Do When Mortgage Rates Are High Compared to the interest rates over the last decade, especially the low rates that kicked off the housing boom of 2020, current interest rates may seem exorbitantly high. But the truth is that mortgage interest rates are simply nearing long-term  historical averages  of 8%, and are well below rate increases reached during other inflationary periods. As you wonder whether or not to buy a home with mortgage interest rates that have doubled over the past year, you may appreciate some perspective in accepting that your projected house payment will be hundreds of dollars higher than it would have been had you purchased the same home one to three years ago before home prices hit record highs. Higher mortgage interest rates have done little to temper demand for homes. Here’s how consumer interest rates really work. Interest rates rise or fall depending on how the government reacts to economic circumstances. In an inflationary environment...
Read more