How Should I Talk to my Teenagers About our New Home?

With all of the developmental, social and emotional changes teenagers face, moving to a new home may be a difficult experience. How can you ease the transition for your teens? It’s all about communicating with your children and involving them in the moving process. Mayflower offers the following tips to help ease the transition into a new home:

• Hold a family meeting to discuss the move. Explain why your family must move and give them as much information as possible.
  
  
• Involve your teens in the moving process from the very beginning.
  • Ask for input on the type of bedroom they would like to have. If they know your listening to their opinions, they are less likely to resist the move.
  • Allow them to choose the way their rooms are decorated – get them excited about your new home and their new room.
  • Give your teenagers flexibility in choosing which items they may keep for the new home.
    
    
• If you’re moving to a new community, take a family trip prior to the move to visit the schools, your new neighborhood and places they would like to see (sports stadium, recreational centers, parks, etc.).
  
  
• As you register your teenagers in their new school, sign up for clubs and activities to get them involved, so they quickly make new friends.
  
  
• Set aside a weekend before the move for your teenagers to spend time with friends and family they are leaving.
  
  
• Ask your teenagers to put together a playlist of their favorite songs on their mp3 player for the whole family to enjoy during the drive to the new home.
  
  
• Invite your teenagers’ friends to visit your new home.
  
  
• Encourage your teen to put together a photo journal of the move and your new home to post to www.flickr.com or their Facebook page.
  
  
• Check in with your teenager on a regular basis to talk to them about the moving process and listen to any of their fears and concerns. Let them know that you understand this is a hard transition and ask how you can make it easier for them.
  
  

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