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Moving with Kids- A Survival Guide Each year, one American family in six moves. If yours is about to do the same, here's how to help your children adjust to becoming the new kids on the block.
TELL THE TRUTH - Let an older child know right away, so she has time to get used to the idea, recommends Thomas T. Olkowski, coauthor of Moving with Children. With kids 5 and under, you can wait until a month or so before the move. Take the family on a road trip to the new neighborhood, or at least show them photos of the new home. If your younger one is upset, read her The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day, by Stan and Jan Berenstain (Random House, $3.25), or Alexander, Who's
Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move, by Judith Viorst (Simon & Schuster, $14). Search for the Web page of your kid's future school; then surf it together, so she can check out clubs, sports, and other activities.
MAKE SOME MEMORIES - A few weeks before the big day, give your child an address book and have her hand out postcards with your new address printed on them. Create a scrapbook together with pictures of her old house, bedroom, and friends, suggests Susan
Safranski, former president of the National Association of School Psychologists. To ease the pain of packing away beloved personal items, let her fill and decorate one box to be unpacked as soon as you arrive.
FIGHT FIRST-NIGHT FEARS - Pick up your kid's favorite take-out food for dinner. If noises in the new house-a sputtering furnace or tree branches scraping the window-give her the jitters, try playing a guessing game of "What's that sound?"
HELP YOUR CHILD FIT IN - She'll feel far more comfortable on the first day of school if she has toured the building (it will probably be open a couple of days early). Hold off on back-to-school shopping till you have a sense of local fashion trends.
On the first day, hand-deliver copies of immunization and
academic records to the school nurse and principal (official ones
might not arrive for months); ask to have your youngster paired with a first-week buddy, so she won't sit alone at lunch or recess. And urge your child to try out for teams and plays or to join other after-school groups.
PHONE HOME - E-mail may be the cheapest way to keep in touch with old pals, but allow your kid the luxury of occasional long-distance calls-especially at first. - Lanie Peterson
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