Adjusting to relocating in NC (Clayton: renting, house, neighborhood)

[lmk3]

Hello-
We are looking to relocate to the clayton area from Ohio soon and wonder if anyone who has made this move had any problems with their children adjusting? We have a 9 yr old and a 7yr old.
DOes anyone have advice on a good relocatation expert to use?

[autumngal]

Here is a thread from the Parenting Forum too.

[convergent]

I'm in the process of doing this and I think that talking to the kids about their anxiety is the best thing you can do. My 15 year old son was extremely upset and after a few talks he has come around. It helped him to know that pretty much all the anxieties he has, his Mom and Dad also have. I worry about making new friends just the same as him. We have one advantage in that they are going to be attending a private Christian school and they are already enrolled and have already met their classmates for next year. You can't really do that with public schools, but anything you can do to help them know that things will be OK will help.

[rkburk]

We moved about a year ago with two sons the same age as yours. The 7 year really struggled at first because he was so bonded with his teachers and classmates that the idea of leaving them seemed impossible for him to accept. Once we were here and settled in school things got so much better. I think both boys took comfort in realizing that other kids around them had also recently moved to the area (we're in a new neighborhood in HS) so they didn't feel like the only "new kids". You will probably find the same situation in Clayton. My older son has thrived and by far has adjusted the best of the entire family! He has made so many new friends and I can really see such an improvement in his self confidence at school and with his new friends. It really is true, that given time things fall into place. Good luck!

[convergent]

That reminds me of one of the things my older son heard when he visited the school he will be attending. He got introduced to the class, and one of them said something to the effect of, "don't worry, we've all been the new kid and know how it feels". There are so many people moving in and out in the area, that there isn't as much of a stigma with being "new".

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by lmk3

Hello-
We are looking to relocate to the clayton area from Ohio soon and wonder if anyone who has made this move had any problems with their children adjusting? We have a 9 yr old and a 7yr old.
DOes anyone have advice on a good relocatation expert to use?

Our kids were 4 & 7 when we moved last summer. I expected it to be harder on my 7 year old. But in fact he adjusted the easiest of all of us. My 4 year who has since turned 5, asked on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis to move back to our old house in Portland. Finally at the 6 month mark she told me if we moved back to Portland her new friends would miss her like her old friends miss her now. It was the turning pointing, thankfully.

It is true that they will not be the only new kid in their class or on the block. And since the teachers handle this all the time they are pros at it.
In my child's class they put pins on maps from where everyone was from. It was a fun national and international geography lesson.

[brycj]

We relocated from Massachusetts a year a half ago. My daughter was 7 and son 2. My son was fine. We made the move before school started so that when school started it was a new year for everyone. She still writes letters to friends and family but has definitely adjusted. A friend moved down at the end of the school year so that her son started school right before summer and was able to meet a few friends before summer began. That seemed to work as well.

[lmk3]

thank you so much! Hopefully our move will go as smooth as all of yours!