How to Help Teens Adjust to a Move
An interesting article in Psychology Today points to the difficulties that kids have with moving. Often, moves are precipitated by bad events, like divorce or job loss, and this is one of the main reasons why kids are often depressed with any kind of a move. But, there are other reasons why moves are tough on kids, too. At Exodus Moving and Storage, we want to make your move easier on your whole family. That’s why we’ve compiled this helpful list of ways to make moving easier for your teen. Take a look!
I: Ease into a move. Changing schools, friends, and towns is hard enough. Try to make a move gradual. Take the time over the span of a few months to coordinate a move, tell your kids where they will be attending school, and even drive to the new town a few times to help with familiarization.
II. Allow necessary quality time. Your kids aren’t just moving to a new town, they are dealing with loss. Leaving a friend or a boyfriend/girlfriend behind is really rough. In some ways, it’s like losing a loved one completely. Before the big day, let your kids spend as much time as needed with friends.
III. Encourage contact. Talk to the parents of your child’s friends. See if you can set up some Skype time for your kids on a regular basis, arrange visits, or plan vacations (if possible) together.
IV. Keep your kids busy. Following any big move, make sure that your kids have activities lined up well before moving day. If you set up hockey in your new town, for example, your kid will have a practice or two to attend when they arrive at your new place of residence. Keeping kids busy helps to ease that feeling of loss.
V. Find other new families. Most of the time, there are other families in a town that are new to the whole scene. If you can set up a meeting or two with these families, it will make the transition simpler.
VI. Prepare your kids before school. If you can visit a new school before moving day, try to observe what other kids at that school are like. Learning what kids have or what things are popular may help your child’s transition.
VII. Try to move at the end of a term. Don’t uproot your kids mid-semester or mid-school year if you can help it. It’s a lot easier for kids to join a new class at the start of a year.
VIII. Keep schools relatively the same. If your kids currently attend private school, realize that they will have a tough time going to public school in a new town. Try to keep schools on the same level, so that things are somewhat familiar.
IX. Line up similar activities: it’s best if your kids can continue to do the things they love in a new place. Moving is tough on kids, but it will be simpler if they can keep doing those familiar things after a move.
X. See how your kids are adjusting. If you notice that your kids are having a really hard time adjust to a new town, you may want to seek counseling for your child. Sometimes, kids just don’t know how to integrate into a new community, and a little help from a skilled therapist goes a long way.
Preparing and Planning
A large part of making a move comfortable for the whole family is to prepare as much as possible. This begins with choosing the right moving services for your move. It can be hard to find a company that you trust, but if you’re moving to Fort Collins or Denver, you can count on us to help make your move smooth. We’ll plan out your moving day from start to finish, and we’ve helped a lot of families move over the years, so just let us know what we can do to make things easier.
We’re also here to answer any questions that you may have. When it comes to moving companies, we’re proud to be one of the best that Colorado has to offer. And, remember, moving isn’t easy on kids, but it can be a great experience if you prepare your kids in advance and try to keep things the same. Did you just move with kids? How did your move go? Let us know below.
