Talk to Your Kids About the Move

Watch your tone, because kids read your mood, not your spreadsheet. If every mention of the move is stressed or rushed, they will absorb that. Acknowledge the tough parts honestly, but do not camp on them. Spend more time on the exciting stuff: a new room to make their own, new parks to explore, maybe a new friend across the street. Name the appealing, concrete features of the new place early and often.

Give them one specific thing to look forward to. Kids latch onto concrete details better than abstract promises, so try "your new room is going to have a window seat" or "there's a park three blocks away." If your move is local, take a few trips to the new area first: visit the nearest playground, drive by the new school, get ice cream nearby. Familiarity before the move makes arrival feel less overwhelming.

Reading a story together before the move gives your kid a gentle way in. We like Goodbye, Hello by Barbara Shook Hazen, A New Home for Tiger by Joan Stimson, and Alexander, Who's Not Going to Move by Judith Viorst, a grumpier, funnier take for the kid who is not here for this. Read them together in the weeks before the big day to open up the conversation.