Moving Home with Teenagers Made Easy

Moving home is stressful for everybody involved, not in the least children. We all know that young kids like routine and stability, which means moving home can really throw them. But very little seems to be shared about moving home with teenagers.

Being a Teenager

Every teenager is unique and ‘teenage’ is a pretty wide age range, from 13 to 19. If your teenager is around 16 or 17, they are likely to also be in puberty, and that is a very challenging time. In fact, it is difficult not just for you, but for them as well. Becoming a young adult is confusing and frightening. They feel an inherent need to rebel against established authority, all the while having to deal with their bodies changing as well. If you add to all this difficulty the fact that they suddenly need to change schools and say goodbye to everything that is familiar to them, and it quickly becomes easy to understand just how hard a house move is on teenagers.

How You Can Help

Managing your teenager’s emotions is all about being aware of them and making sure you respect them and their feelings. You have to be considerate of what they are going through at all times. Some ideas to make things easier include:

Involve your teen in some of the decision-making processes. They can help research the different Arlington movers, for instance, and help you to find the one that is right for you as a family. This gives them a purpose and also makes them feel like they are actually part of the entire move, rather than being subjected to it.
Discuss ways to remain in contact with friends that being left behind. Talk about pen pal options, social media, online gaming and so on. Do also discuss whether there will be possibilities for visits.
Go explore the new area together and try to find some spots where they may like to go, like youth centers, sports facilities and other such things.
Make sure you work together on choosing a new school as well. This should be one of the first things that you do, and you should have lots of information available about the school so that your teen can prepare. School has a huge impact on the life of a teenager. It is their domain, and you have to make sure that they will feel as comfortable as possible there.
If your child is in a relationship, you may dismiss it as ‘puppy love’. However, for your teen, it is very real and the heartbreak they will feel when they have to leave their boy- or girlfriend behind is equally real. If you’re lucky, your teen will believe they can have a long distance relationship and this will most likely fizzle out over time. But it is more likely that their heart will not just be broken, but, in their own eyes at least, shattered into a million pieces.