ינהאַלט
Lhe deadline is fast approaching. Two or three more administrative calls to make, a few shelves to clear and you’ll be ready to leave the apartment where your little Chloe grew up. If the prospect of having a bigger apartment appeals to you, your little girl is far from sharing your enthusiasm: the more the boxes pile up in the living room, the more his dismay grows. And night after night, when it’s time to turn off the light, she repeats it to you, with tears in her voice: she doesn’t want to move. A perfectly normal reaction… Rest assured, in a few weeks, when she will be well installed in her new room and will have made new friends, she will feel better..
Psycho counseling
On D-Day, if you can, keep your child with you. It will prevent him from feeling excluded. The more he has the impression of acting on the situation, the less anxiety it will be. Why not, for example, have him carry a light box of toys on which he will have written “Quentin room” in large letters? He will appreciate feeling empowered in this way.
A move can create a loss of landmarks in the child
For now, the sadness of having to leave the places and people your child loves is compounded by the fear of the unknown. “The situation is all the more distressing since, unlike us, children have great difficulty in projecting themselves, in anticipating”, explains psychologist Jean-Luc Aubert. And even if the situation evolves to get better, he will remember only one thing: his landmarks will be jostled. “At this age, resistance to change, even positive, is great,” recalls the specialist. If they don’t like having their habits upended, it’s simply that they reassure them. Does he have less appetite? Is he having trouble falling asleep? Don’t worry, these reactions are normal and fleeting. Either way, you can smooth out the transition a bit.
אין ווידעא: מאָווינג: וואָס סטעפּס צו נעמען?
Moving: a child needs something concrete
Take the time to answer all of their questions, even if they are just details that you don’t think are important. The more your child knows, the less he will worry. Is he afraid of not making new friends, of not being accepted by his new classmates? If you did not have the opportunity to show her around the premises before the summer, at least try to find out about the mistress’s first name, the number of children in her class … not yet able to imagine what their near future will be, children must be able to rely on concrete elements ”, advises Jean-Luc Aubert. A calendar can then be useful for counting down together the days that separate it from the move. But also to predict when he will see his friends again! Very important too: tell him about his future room. Does he want it to be decorated identically to the current one, or does he prefer to change everything? Listen to him. Your child is going to need time to adjust to all of these changes.
מחבר: Aurélia Dubuc