Teenagers and Moving

When we decided to move across the country we sat our children down and explained to them the reasoning behind the move. We let them give their view point of the situation and any ideas they had to make the transition easier for them. It is always important to let your teenagers feel like they have some control in any given situation. Part of the reason that teenagers feel rebellious is because they are trying to learn to have control over their lives and as parents this is what we want to have happen. It is our job to make sure they are able to accomplish this with minimal upheaval.

When you are planning your move, talk to you children. Let them know what is going on and where you are at in the planning process. Have them help you look at the different homes you are researching, they will have opinions on them. When they give you an opinion, listen to them, they just might notice something that you missed. If there are extra bedrooms in the house, let them choose which one they want and have them help you with the layout and design of the room.

One of the other areas that will help them cope with the transition is the school districts. We moved from an area that had one school district and large schools and moved into an area that had quite a few school districts with smaller schools. We had our children look at the different schools and find out if there was anything about them that they didn't like. When we discussed where we were going to move in the town, it helped them to know more about the school districts.

It is always important to talk to your children before any large transition in their lives. By keeping the lines of communication open, you have a better chance of being able to assist your children in the areas they are struggling in. It is also important to let your children have some control over their lives. Our goal as parents is to make sure they can survive in the world on their own and the first step to that is teaching them control over their lives. All we can do is teach them what we can and sit back and let them fly.