By ohamanda | Leave A Comment
The previous owners of our rental house were Ukranian. Their decoration style was…uhm, different than ours. The house has gold trim, pink carpet, columns, gold trim, marble and did I mention gold trim? So, I am ecstatic to be moving into our VERY OWN HOUSE this month!
The only problem we’re having is my 3-year-old daughter’s fear about leaving our current home. She’s concerned about the mini doors that lead into the attic. She wonders about having a room on a different floor from ours. She wants to know where her toys will be!
So, we’ve been trying to prepare her by:–
1. Keeping Her Involved. Every Saturday my husband and daughter went house hunting with our Realtor while I stayed at home with our son. It would have been easy to keep her with me or send her to the grandparents. Instead she began to get excited by house hunting
2. Talking About It. We talk about our new house all the time–the colors of her walls, where her brother will sleep, how we’ll pack up her favorite bear, playing in the new backyard and more. It’s a fun conversation she asks for regularly all the time!
3. Facing Her Fears. Once we decided to buy the house the first thing she said was, “We need to find a room downstairs for me to sleep in!” So, we talked about how her room was close to her brother’s and how we can use the intercom to hear her.
With each discussion and every decision I can see her nervousness fade away. Until our big moving day we’ll be preparing her as best we can! And I’ll be scouring Pottery Barn catalogs for some decor that doesn’t involve gold trim!
Photo by GeekMomHeather
ABOUT ohamanda
Amanda is a stay-at-home mom to two. She blogs her daily life, tivo choices, favorite books and choc{read more}
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This is great! We’ll be needing this soon ourselves!
Great advice!! My son was only four months old when we moved, so I didn’t have any issues. But next time I’m sure we will!!!! Good luck! I bet you’re excited!
What a great article!
My son is only five but has lived in six homes in his life. We are military and have moved to a different home every year since enlistment (we don’t have to… but for some reason that’s how it’s worked out), and move to a different state every three years so far.
The MOST important thing is to stay calm and be excited yourself. If you’re stressed and frightened about your move, you know your children will pick up on it easily. But if you’re excited and calm, your children will pick up on that just as easily. If you’re moving away from your town, research the area you’ll be moving to. Look for fun places to go – zoos, aquariums, playgrounds, state parks. Share your findings with the kids! It isn’t just the house they’ll miss. They’ll also miss their favorite neighborhood playground and the sites of their best outings. We’re leaving behind Sea World, and my son is upset about that. But he’s more excited that will be within a 2.5 hour drive of about a dozen zoos and aquariums, not to even mention the fact that he’ll probably have enough snow next winter to make his first snowman. A positive attitude really is the key to making a move smooth for your children.