Whether you have young children at home or grandchildren who visit your home regularly, a move can be stressful on the kids in your life. Moving houses, even in the same city, often means the loss of neighborhood friends and familiar routines. Without many of the tools that make transitioning to a new area easier for adults – GPS maps, Internet searches, and motor vehicles – kids have a harder time learning and becoming comfortable with their new environment. If you’re moving farther away from your grandkids, they may have difficulty adjusting to seeing you less frequently and losing friends and favorite places to visit. Here are some tips to help the whole family adjust to your move.

 

Explore Together

Taking family walks and bike rides around your new neighborhood is a great way to explore together and get some exercise, too! Before you start, look around the neighborhood to see what’s nearby. Getting the kids involved can also teach them how to use a map to find parks, rivers, playgrounds, and other interesting features. Use online fitness programs (like mapmyrun.com) to plot out walking or biking routes that are an appropriate length, or check out other users’ suggested routes. 

Deciding to build your custom home offers the unique opportunity to decide where in a town or city you want to live! This allows your family to consider the option for a new neighborhood in town or to expand your horizons farther out of the town center. Explore nearby thriving communities like Johnston, Clive, Ankeny, and West Des Moines, which offer many suburban conveniences and easy access to downtown Des Moines. Or branch out to up-and-coming areas like Mitchellville, Bondurant, Polk City, Granger, Adel, or Carlisle, where you can get great values, no-down payment financing assistance, and rural charm. A Des Moines home builder who knows the city and suburbs can help you find the one that’s perfect for your family!

 

Keep Old Connections

Help your children understand that this transition doesn’t have to mean the end of previous relationships. Work together to figure out strategies to keep their old friendships intact, maybe in new ways. Bike riding companions can transition into pen pals (by old-fashioned letter or email). Kids who are old enough to have social media accounts can add their friends to their social networks and preserve those relationships online. If your child is outgoing, think about hosting a farewell party with their friends, and take photographs as keepsakes. Encourage visits to the old neighborhood, especially for beloved holiday traditions like light displays or beginning-of-summer block parties. Invite some old friends to visit your new home or to spend weekends or vacations with you. Helping your children understand that relationships can withstand separation will help them not only with their move but also with future transitions.

 

Make New Friends

Working together as a family to meet new people of all ages in your new neighborhood will help everyone transition into the new space. Whether you host an open house for your new neighbors, reach out with cookies or small gifts, or just make a point to say “hello” and introduce yourself as opportunities arise, make the effort to reach out to your new community members. Involving your kids or grandkids can help them learn to meet new people and maybe connect them with kids their own age in the area.

Explore church groups, social clubs, and activities like sports clubs and drama groups. Use online resources like neighborhood association websites and Facebook pages, area MeetUp groups, local parent resources, and other virtual groups to connect you online with people you can meet in person. Ask your friends if they have any recommendations of things you should explore or people who can help you expand your social circle in your new community.

 

Ease the Transition to a New School

Leaving behind friends and schoolmates, making new friends, and adjusting to a new school can be difficult, too. You can help your children transition to their new community, starting before your move and continuing through your first few months in your new home.

• Obtain a copy of the guidelines for their new school before school starts. Make sure your kids understand the uniform or dress code as well as any regulations on makeup, conduct, etc., and make sure they have everything they need for their first day.
• Investigate extracurricular activities (both associated with and outside of the school) to give the kids opportunities to meet new friends before and after the school year starts.
• Help your kids plan the route they will take to get to school and back, whether on foot, by bus, or in a car, and drive or walk it with them before school starts.
• Meet and talk with the counselors and teachers at your kids’ new school. Follow up with them about a month after school starts to see how the children are adapting to their school and classmates.
• Get yourself involved with the new school, too! Joining the PTA or helping to support an extracurricular activity can help your whole family adjust and make friends.

 

Moving can be an exciting step forward in your family’s life. Des Moines home builders Homes By Brill will work with you to minimize the stress of building your new home so you and your family will have less to worry about! We’re your partner every step of the way of the homebuilding process, from finding land and obtaining financing through the entire design and building process. Give us a call or contact us online to get started on your family’s Des Moines custom home.

 

Learn more about the building process in our free, downloadable eBook. Just click the link below!

 

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2016 Homes by Brill custom home builders in Des Moines Iowa