Need Help to Make Move Smooth for My 7 Year Old.

hi kristen...i think your son is young enough now that he will meet new friends, and will have an easy time adjusting! if you do it now while he is young he will have a chance to meet friends, and build a solid bond. if you wait until he is 16 or 17 it will be harder, because they will graduate, and he wouldnt have had those years to bond....i live in glen mills, it is great! here in glen mills the school district is garnet valley, not RTM...

I remember moving from our house when I was 10 and in the 5th grade. It didn't even involve a change of schools but I remember crying the whole night before the move, and my father yelled at me. Broke my heart and I was so confused, I thought I was losing all my friends and was losing my familiar surroundings. That being said, I think you are defiantely right to be concerned about the transition for him. Give him as much information as you can. Tell him about packing, and moving trucks and maybe even taking him to see the new school before you move so he can see it. I would just explain to him what will happen when the house sells and you have one to buy with a settlement date, that way you can prepare him for either a middle of the semester switch or a beginning of the year switch. I also think letting him decide how his new room will be decorated might help. He may want to keep it as close to his room currently is because that is familiar and comfortable to him. I think since you already recognize that it will be stressful for him you are on the right track.

Glen Mills is beautiful, my grandparents used to live there. When we moved my 2 oldest were 2 and 3 so they don't really remember. I am thinking that 7 is still young enough to bounce back and make new friends. I would just look closely for signs incase he is having a hard time. Having him help "design" his new room can get him excited...(i would involve him a lot in little descions)

Best of luck for a smooth move :-)

As a real estate consultant, I encounter this often and actually encourage the parents to talk with the kids early in the process. Let him decide which house to live in if possible. A house becomes so much more than 4 walls for children, it is usually the center of their world. A comforting place and the thought of moving can really disrupt that leaving something strange in its place. The things that were once so familiar are now different almost like living is someone else's space.

Talk to your son about the move in as positive a way as you can. Ask what he likes about the current house and neighborhood and then stress and show that the new house will have all that and more. Don't just promise to let him decorate his room. Take him to stores to start picking out what he wants or better yet get him a gift card so he feels he is in total control. If possible take him to the new neighborhood to play so he can possibly meet some new friends on the playground. Once school starts you might be able to take him there to visit.

I hope this helps and best of luck!

I'd check the library for some kids books about moving. Take a tour thru the neighborhood and show the good points. I'm hoping to move to RTM SD too, but that's my old stompping grounds and my old school. My son is going into 1st grade and won't know anyone since he went to Montessori school the last 3 yrs. He's nervous, but every kid is nervous.

Your son is young enough to blend in, if he were 12/13 then it gets tougher I think.

Good luck and try not to send out the worried Mom vibes to your son!