Since Myles’s job has us relocating quite often moving can be so many things mixed into one. It’s what Colette and I like to call double emotions like Smappy (when she’s feel sad she has to leave home but happy she’s going to school). Moving is what we call excitingull (exciting but stressful).
Home?!
“Home! Mama go home?” Two year old Wesley has been asking to go to our Charlotte house for the first two weeks. I usually responded to him with we’re getting a new home, not sure how else how to respond. Colette on the other hand we had been preparing for quite some time.
Plant the Seed
Colette has some anxiety issues so when talking to her doctor the best advice she gave me was planting the seed early. I bought a bunch of books that focused on emotions. When a child is aware of their emotions and given ways to navigate these strong feelings, they can better describe and communicate their needs and feelings. Below are a few books that I found so helpful with this major transition.
Schedule
Schedule is key! I notice a change in myself when I’m off schedule, so I cannot image what my children felt like when moving from one state to another without any routine or consistency to rely on.
Expect the Breakdowns
With big transitions come big feelings and big feelings come big breakdowns, from almost everyone. While we were searching for an affordable home in the best school district our kids were way off schedule and eating not so healthy food and watching way too much tv. Which caused lots of breakdowns and we chose to choose our battles. We graced our kids with a little extra amount of patience as we were cranky too.
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