Moving to a new house is an exciting new season in life. But this might not be the case for your teenage children. In fact, relocation could trigger depression. This could be brought by the fear of leaving friends in their school or the uncertainty of not fitting in in the community you’re moving to. That said, here are tips to help them cope with this major life change:
Involve them in the details of the move
It’s ideal to share with the kids the plan to move as soon as you’ve decided to push through. Doing this will ease them into the idea of relocation bit by bit. It’s best if they could help in searching for homes and neighbourhoods. You never know, they might just find good deals, like house and land packages around Truganina, Victoria, with only a few taps and clicks on their phones.
Focus on social relationships
As mentioned, most teens get anxious during this time because they’re leaving friends. Plan on going back to your old neighbourhood a month after the move and promise them that you would make time for revisiting old friends in the future. Encourage them as well to use social networking sites to stay connected with their friends.
Similarly, help them socialise. Let them go to their new classmates’ house parties. Host your own party to meet neighbours. Go to where the people are, in cafes, parks, or gyms.
Encourage them to open up to you
Often, teens wouldn’t communicate to you their struggles. Or, they could just be showing one side of a spectrum of emotions they feel, either anger or sadness. Be discerning on when it’s okay to initiate talks with them. And when you do finally talk, don’t dismiss their emotions.
Instead, share your feelings of uncertainty about this new chapter in your life as well. When they sense that you’re transparent to them, chances are, they’ll open up to you also. From there, you can make action plans better based on what they feel.
Moving to a new home might be an overwhelming change for your teens. Follow these tips to keep their emotional health intact.