Easing Move from Overseas Back to U.S.

We are military and move quite a bit. my daughter was 2 when we moved the first time. She had no clue. The second time she was 4 and we said we were going on vacation. Every kid is different so different things work for different people. Good luck.

Try to keep her meals and sleep schedule as normal as possible. I know almost too hard. Keep a bag of her things separate with her favorite book, lovey, etc. I have gotten new things on moves for them for the ride to the new destination. We have moved across country twice with toddlers.
As the other moms have said she will react to your reaction. Be very positive. She probably won't remember much. My kids remember very little of their toddler houses.

see if you can get a hold of a book called moving house. its a kids book. written really simply, I think that at 2.5 your daughter can start to grasp some of the concepts even though not all of it. I know the time line thing just doesn't work at all at that age. I think showing pictures and talking about a new house in a positive way will go a long way for her though. By time I was 2.5 I had lived in 3 homes. we moved so often growing up that I don't really have a "home town" I'm often asked how I handled it. I don't know. it was all I knew. it was my life. I can't imagine staying one place longer. I get cagey living here in our home (6 years now) and have to remind myself its because its new. I've used the first experience books with my daughter for doctors appts. the dentist, starting preschool...I don't recall the author but the illustrator is Stephen Cartwright. Hope that helps.

She is so young, she won't even realize what is going on, make it fun, buy her some new toys for the plane, talk about ti all in an upbeat voice.

my son was 4 when we moved here from the uk, so he was a little more cognizant of what was going on, but still, he didn't really realize the full extent of it.

he did request a few toys that he wanted to keep, as we had to get rid of a lot of stuff, we gave a lot to charity, and we explained it to him, and he liked the idea of other children playing with his toys (except his thomas's lol, which we had to bring)

We moved from England to VA when my kids were 3 & 1 , the youngest had no idea what was going on but my son did. We just told him in very simple kid terms that we were going to live in a new house and we need to go on an aeroplane to get there. I didn't make a point of telling him all the time and wanting him to understand , just every now and then I'd mention our new house in America.Kids this young really to adapt very well , they just accept where they are , unlike adults they don't have a long term memory and yearn for past things , as long as her parents are with her then she will be fine. Try not to be anxious around her as she will pick up on this.

Also she will be fine with your parents , my son never forgot my parents and my daughter who was 1 when we moved here had no problems with them when they came to visit , we have since had another child whilst here and she has only met family members in person a few times and most of this was when she was a baby , but when my sister came out a few months she was fine , it was like she was a regular visitor in our house with how comfortable she was around her.

As for moving and leaving stuff behind, make the clean out a game. We haven't moved in a while, but we do 'clean out' every 6m, around birthdays. We get 2 boxes, and with the kids we have a small 'keep' box, and a big 'give to other kids' box. You'll be amazed at what they'll get rid of. They then go with us to drop of the box at the Charity Center or Too Good to Waste. Being 2, she may not like it at first, becuase 2 is all about what is mine.

I agree with getting pictures of your parent's house, things to do around there. Show them to her so that she can see what to expect. We've done this with all of our moves.

M.

She will react to YOUR reaction to all of this!! Be positive...make it sound like an "adventure"!!! Maybe you could find some books at the local library about moving or life in the US. Let her help you pack things up for the move...let her "own" some of the preparations by making some decisions "where should we pack your books so that they are easy for you to find when we get to our new home?" Give her specific, limited choices or you will find yourself getting her confused..."would you rather keep the blonde or the brunette doll to play with after the movers are gone?"
Could your parents send a video recording or at least an audio recording of the two of them, talking about how excited they are to see you all again...and what fun you will have when you get together ?
As soon as you find out where you are going to be stationed, let her "help "you do some research online to find fun things to do in the area.
But the most important thing you can do is convey an aura of positive feelings and excitement about this adventure that you have in front of you!! Children are amazingly resilient, yes, she will be sad to leave her home and everything that is familiar to her but she will take her "cue" from you on how to feel about all of this!!
I have been an Army Wife for over 40 years now...( retired the last 10) and our children were always excited about whatever moves we made because we let them know that we were looking forward to our new home.
Good luck..

Hi L., We moved from San Diego to Japan with a 22 month old and a 4 year old and a 7 year old, we just told them what we were doing, we kept it simple, we allowed each child to pack a small Ninja Turtles truck with some of their favorite toys, and we made it a family adventure, they all 3 did great, we came back to the states with a 10 year old, an 7 year old and a 5 year old and we basically did it the same way. in my case our children always rolled with the flow as long as we were all together.