Are you planning to move abroad? Are you worried about what impact it is going to have on your kids? While a transit can be disturbing to parents and adults, it can be traumatic for kids too, as they don’t have the power to maintain control over their emotions and changing environment.
Moving abroad can bring in a bunch of opportunities and a whole different experience to explore a new place that is awaiting you with open hands. But sometimes, the adjustment phase can be quite challenging when you have kids who are culturally and emotionally sensitive.
Here in this article, we will tell you about all that you need to do to get your kids ready to adhere to the change and adopt the new place wholeheartedly.
Start talking in advance
You cannot think of waking up one fine day and announcing that you are moving to another country the next week. This can come as a total shocker for your kids, leaving them in a state of dismay. Give them plenty of time to accept the situation and to think about the transition that is going to be real.
Announce this news in an affirmative way. Show them all that they are going to explore in the new country, friends, place, and school, trigger positivity about the new location, and allow them ample time to prepare themselves for the transit.
Make the Goodbyes easy for them
Being separated from friends can be quite an emotional state and can bring in a traumatic change in your kids. You need to understand this well because kids are more prone to suffer such traumas when they are forced to part from their loved ones.
So before you relocate, make sure that you allow your kids to spend ample time with people who are important to them so that saying goodbyes are a bit easy. You can also consider hosting parties or events so that your children can have a good time with their favorite people. Also, after you make a move, you can let them stay connected with their buddies through videoconferencing so that they can combat the emotional distress.
Practice a few daily rituals
Once you move into a new country, your children may not quickly adapt to the new place. Thus to get them acclimated to the new normal. Make sure that you make them adhere to a few daily rituals. The rituals can be as simple as praying together, arranging the wardrobe, getting involved in cleaning chores, sleeping to bedtime stories, and any other activity that you can think of to make your kids comfortable and acquainted with their new residence.
If you don’t have any such rituals, make a few of them so that you can get your kids more involved in other activities.
Pay extra Attention
Moving abroad may not be easy; there may be plenty of things that may keep you busy and occupied. But you need to remember that your kids need extra attention at such a time when they have to adapt themselves to the changes.
Especially during the early days, make sure that you stay close to your children and keep this act as a priority list before you get involved in other things.
Take them out
There may be a lot of places to visit in the new country where you may have moved, so plan out trips with your kids so that you can retain their high spirits. Checking out new places, enjoying the famous cuisines, taking a stroll, hitting a club, watching a football match, there are lots of things that you can do to help your children get through this phase of transition.
Take part in cultural events
Check out for any cultural or sports events that may be taking place around you. If you are lucky to find out any such thing being organized, consider taking your kids for the same. The entire goal of being part of such events is to cut down the strangeness for your children to be in an entirely new environment.
Cultural events can be a way out to help your kids cut the stress and can trigger positivity while exploring the new culture that you may have to adhere to for the years to come.
Help them in making new friends
A new country, new school, and a new environment may not be easy for your kids to gel well in. At such a time, friends are the ones who can make things easier, but again the question is how to make new friends?
Especially if your kid is an introvert, then you very well know how difficult it can be to add new pals in their lust. So it’s better to shoulder this responsibility on your shoulders. For this, you can take your kids out to the local park or host a party for the neighborhood kids to come over to your house and spend time with your kids. And slowly and steadily, your kids will develop a new friend circle.
Use the “new” Hack
We all know how our children love to have new things in their kitty. Try bribing them with a new cycle, new tiffin box, or any such similar thing and see how they dance to your tunes to achieve what you are bribing them with. The same is the case when you prepare them for moving abroad.
Use words like, we are going to have a new home, new bed, new friends, we will explore new places and similar such phrases to help them fade out the current memories overtime and welcome the new life that is awaiting them.
Carry their favorite things
That old teddy bear that might have become dirty enough for you to consider chucking it off is a total no-no. In such cases of moving abroad, your kids may become fearful and clingier. They may feel a bit relaxed when they cling on their favorite toys and soft stuff, so don’t think of separating them with their belongings despite how old or ragged they may have turned into.
Let them pack themselves and carry all their loved stuff so that they feel that they are taking their world along.
Make them habitual
If you are enrolling your kids in a day-care center or school, don’t wait for the last day and drop them alone on their first day of school. Instead, it would be better if you take them along before their first day in school to show them their new school premises, their teachers, etc. It is suggested that you should take them once beforehand so that they get to know the place where they will be spending their future years. This act will help them get acquainted with the new place and will calm down their nerves a bit.
Get them involved
No matter what reasons you may have planned to make a move, your kids may be overwhelmed with distress and may land down in a panic state. Thus it is your sole duty to help them come out of such a situation. One of the most effective ways to help them combat this battle is to get them involved with you.
May it be packing and unpacking, may it be helping you out with arranging things, cleaning, designing, getting them to help you out so that you can keep them distracted. Getting them involved in the new place is vital to emphasize on the positivity of the new country.
Focus on the wellbeing
Mental and physical wellbeing is of vital importance, and usually, we tend to neglect such things in such a chaotic situation where we have to pack at first and unbox the same when you reach your destination.
Adhering to the exercise rituals can be quite a challenging task in such a state of mess. But despite the hardships you may be facing, make sure that you and your kids get yourselves involved in daily exercise sessions to boost your energy levels to maintain physical and emotional wellbeing.
Conclusion
Moving into a new country can be a mix of excitement and stress. There can be a whole galore of things to organize and cater to, and you may always find yourself complaining about running short of time. But in this phase where things are messed up, it is of prime importance to rethink that it is not just you who are facing ups and downs of the transition.
Your kids may be affected too, and they may find it quite difficult to adhere to the sudden changes. Thus they require support and guidance from their parents, and you have to stand by them to cut the transition stress. Following the tips mentioned above, you can help them relocate overseas so that the relocation becomes less daunting and brings in excitement and joy for your kids to have a home again in a far off land.