Moving with Kids: Tips to Make the Transition Easier
Moving is stressful enough, throw in some kids and it's like the stress multiplies by 10. One of the toughest parts about moving from your home where your children have grown up is not only leaving all the memories you've made, but leaving a place your children know and love. As the most experienced real estate agents at the Lake of the Ozarks, you can bet we've seen families make the transition a few times in our years. That's why we've come up with some tips to make moving with kids a little easier.
Call a Family Meeting
Once the decision has been made to make the move, the time will come that you'll need to break the news to the family. Order some pizza and sit around the table discussing this change and why you made the choice. Share with your family that you're excited about this opportunity and encourage your kids to express their feelings. This will allow you the opportunity to get ahead of a possibly difficult transition.
Visit the Home
Once you decide on your new home, take the kids to the new place for a visit. If you're just moving across town, plan to spend the day doing a walk-through of the house and a tour of the new neighborhood. Then you can visit the local branch of the public library and each kid's school. If you're moving a great distance away, you might still be able to do this, even if it just means beating the moving van by a couple of days and staying in a local hotel. In addition to touring the children's schools and the local library, make arrangements to see any additional facilities you might end up frequenting like the area YMCA, community theater or music school. You can also drive your children by where you'll be working.
Make Room Plans
One thing that we see time and again, is kids will go into a potentially new home and claim their room, even before knowing whether a home is the one. To maintain that excitement about moving to a new house, and let them make room plans. If the kids are old enough and you plan to do some remodeling in the new home, set a budget and let them tackle their own rooms. They'll become excited about picking out paint colors and their room decor. For younger kids, you can set a budget and work with them on executing their vision. They may even be interested in helping out with decorating the rest of the house too! Then, when it's all done, you can invite some family or friends over for a "big reveal" like they do on TV shows.
Host a "Going Away" Party
One of the most difficult things about moving for any child is saying goodbye to friends. A great way to help your kids overcome this stress is to host a "Going Away" party. Invite your family, friends and neighbors for a get together. During the party, make sure everyone exchanges contact information, and take photos of your kids with their friends. Between texting, e-mails and phone calls, your kids should be able to maintain old friendships while transitioning to their new surroundings and making new friends. And if you're not moving that far away, you can always plan to schedule weekend visits and sleepovers for the kids, which will help to encourage your kids that moving isn't such a bad thing after all.
Check Out the Community
After your moved in and start to feel settled, it's time to get out and really explore your new community. Look into what's available in your area that each member of your family would be interested in. So make an effort to plan regular outings to check out something new and exciting that your new home town has to offer. If they've met some new friends in your neighborhood or at school, encourage each child to bring a friend along on your outings. It's important to engage your kids and show them all that your new hometown has to offer.
By using these tips, you'll find that relocating to the Lake of the Ozarks doesn't have to be as stressful as you expected it to be. Your family will soon be calling our wonderful community home and will enjoy all that the Lake has to offer. If you haven't found a home yet, and need some help finding the perfect one for your family, our expert Lake of the Ozarks real estate agents would love to help you with your search. Visit our website at www.GotLakeRealEstate.com to learn more about how we can help you find the perfect home, and to get to know our agents!
Call a Family Meeting
Once the decision has been made to make the move, the time will come that you'll need to break the news to the family. Order some pizza and sit around the table discussing this change and why you made the choice. Share with your family that you're excited about this opportunity and encourage your kids to express their feelings. This will allow you the opportunity to get ahead of a possibly difficult transition.
Visit the Home
Once you decide on your new home, take the kids to the new place for a visit. If you're just moving across town, plan to spend the day doing a walk-through of the house and a tour of the new neighborhood. Then you can visit the local branch of the public library and each kid's school. If you're moving a great distance away, you might still be able to do this, even if it just means beating the moving van by a couple of days and staying in a local hotel. In addition to touring the children's schools and the local library, make arrangements to see any additional facilities you might end up frequenting like the area YMCA, community theater or music school. You can also drive your children by where you'll be working.
Make Room Plans
One thing that we see time and again, is kids will go into a potentially new home and claim their room, even before knowing whether a home is the one. To maintain that excitement about moving to a new house, and let them make room plans. If the kids are old enough and you plan to do some remodeling in the new home, set a budget and let them tackle their own rooms. They'll become excited about picking out paint colors and their room decor. For younger kids, you can set a budget and work with them on executing their vision. They may even be interested in helping out with decorating the rest of the house too! Then, when it's all done, you can invite some family or friends over for a "big reveal" like they do on TV shows.
Host a "Going Away" Party
One of the most difficult things about moving for any child is saying goodbye to friends. A great way to help your kids overcome this stress is to host a "Going Away" party. Invite your family, friends and neighbors for a get together. During the party, make sure everyone exchanges contact information, and take photos of your kids with their friends. Between texting, e-mails and phone calls, your kids should be able to maintain old friendships while transitioning to their new surroundings and making new friends. And if you're not moving that far away, you can always plan to schedule weekend visits and sleepovers for the kids, which will help to encourage your kids that moving isn't such a bad thing after all.
Check Out the CommunityAfter your moved in and start to feel settled, it's time to get out and really explore your new community. Look into what's available in your area that each member of your family would be interested in. So make an effort to plan regular outings to check out something new and exciting that your new home town has to offer. If they've met some new friends in your neighborhood or at school, encourage each child to bring a friend along on your outings. It's important to engage your kids and show them all that your new hometown has to offer.
By using these tips, you'll find that relocating to the Lake of the Ozarks doesn't have to be as stressful as you expected it to be. Your family will soon be calling our wonderful community home and will enjoy all that the Lake has to offer. If you haven't found a home yet, and need some help finding the perfect one for your family, our expert Lake of the Ozarks real estate agents would love to help you with your search. Visit our website at www.GotLakeRealEstate.com to learn more about how we can help you find the perfect home, and to get to know our agents!
2011 REALTOR Salesperson of the Year
Missouri Association of Realtors
752 Bagnell Dam Blvd., Suite A
Lake Ozark, MO 65049
Office | 573.365.1555
Fax | 573.365.1766
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