Moving with kids is always a challenge, and moving overseas can compound this. Luckily, there are things you can do to prepare your children for your family's international adventure, and make things go more smoothly. Here are three great ways to help prepare your kids for an international move:
Get Them Excited Ahead of Time
As soon as you know your international move is definitely happening, it's time to start talking to your kids about it. The longer they know about the move, the longer they'll have to adjust and adapt to their new reality. Keep your attitude positive and excited. Check out books and movies from the library about your new home and explore them as a family. Focus on all the cool new experiences you will be having together: sites you will visit, new foods you will try, festivals you can check out, etc.
Have a Plan for Keeping in Touch
For kids, the scariest thing about a big move is being so far away from their friends and relatives. Reassure them that there are many great ways to keep in touch with everyone while you're abroad. Begin helping them to gather snail mail addresses as well as email addresses and user names for video chatting services.
Practice making video calls to their friends or to relatives before you move, so they see this as a normal way to keep in touch and communicate. You can also let them pick out fun new stationery and pens so they can have pen pals after the move.
Let Them Say Goodbye
Goodbyes don't have to be drawn out and dramatic, but your children may find that getting to have a goodbye ritual helps them feel emotional closure before the move. A goodbye party for their friends from school is a fun way to accomplish this. You can even make it a theme party, with the theme being your new country. For example, if you're moving to Spain, you might throw a Spanish fiesta complete with Spanish snacks and music.
As you can see, by preparing your kids for the upcoming big move, you can help turn it into a positive experience instead of something to be afraid of. Be sure to hire an experienced international moving company (such as Hollander Storage & Moving) to take care of the logistics of moving all your belongings, so you can continue to focus on making a smooth transition for your family.
Share23 December 2015
As soon as my boss asked me to move tor work, I started worrying about the upcoming relocation. I was worried about how my kids would respond to the new surroundings and how I would cope with a different office. Fortunately, I had a helpful friend at the time who walked me through the entire process. He gave me a few tips that helped me to dramatically improve the moving process, including working with movers to handle packing and disassemble my furniture. I wanted to make other people more aware of the resources they have available to them, which is the reason I made this blog.
