A move to another country is an exciting adventure for your whole family. Welcome! I hope you all enjoy your new home.

But even the best move can still be stressful. I've attached a link below to an article from the Hand in Hand website titled "Ease the Transition of Moving to a New Home." The article talks about ways to ease both your own stress, and ways to help the kids adjust to their new environment that remind them that no matter where you live, you are still a family and you are still together caring for and about one another.

You also might enjoy the second article which talks about building resilience, something that will help your son as he develops his new relationships with his classmates. Children build resilience when someone in their life dedicates time to listen to their emotional struggles all the way through, without giving advice, trying to be logical, or telling the child they 'should' feel another way.

Emotions are like a storm passing through---they may be loud and wet, but with a caring companion to share them, the energy of the emotional storm quickly dissipates. With regular chances to be heard, respected, and loved through their emotional storms, children come to depend on themselves and their ability to get through whatever challenges they have in life.

So, as your family adjusts to your new home, making extra time to be with your son to listen to him, or to spend time doing something of his choice together with him, you can increase his capacity to solve any problems he might encounter fitting into his new school environment.

He's very lucky to have a caring parent thinking about him and anticipating what he might need to make the upcoming transition well.

We wish you all the best with your move,

Juli

Julianne Idleman
Hand in Hand Program Director
http://www.handinhandparenting.org