In my last blog post (available here), I discussed the idea that resilience is something that can be developed. I challenged the idea we often hear that ‘children are resilient’. I suggested that we, as parents, can help our children build their resilience in life changing circumstances, like when we move house. 

New research on how our brains work is telling us fascinating stuff! We now know that things like resilience are not innate or pre-determined. We can become more resilient if we do the right things to build our resilience. 

When you talk about moving home with kids lots of people say ‘kids are resilient’.
​
I have heard this so many times over the years, as a researcher working with moving families. I was on a Facebook group the other day and someone asked how to help their 4-year-old move house. Someone responded ‘kids are more resilient than parents’. Even if that is true (which it isn’t), I don’t think it really helps answer the question about how to help a young child cope with a home move.

​Over the years, children and young people have told me many different things about their experiences of moving home. There is one thing that is quite common but I think it might shock you!

​When I asked the question ‘When did you find out you were moving home?’ quite a lot of kids told me ‘I overheard my parent(s) talking about it’.

When I interviewed the parent(s), guess what they said?

Yep, you guessed it.

‘I/We talked to them about it’ or ‘I/We told them about it’.

​Moving home with kids can be hard! Let’s be honest.

If you and your kids are excited, full of adventurous plans and taking it all in your stride, that's great! I'm really happy for you!

But... if you’re struggling with the idea of moving home with kids, or you’re in the process of moving home with kids and struggling, you’re not on your own.