| Let the Adventure Begin! A Week-by-Week Guide to Moving Abroad
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34 Weeks Until Overseas Move: Preparing Your Kids for the Move Abroad - Telling Your Kids about the Move, Family Dynamics, Third Culture Kids
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| Telling Your Kids about the Move Abroad
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It's always hard to give people advice about their children, regardless of how much training you have as a family counselor or therapist. The cardinal rule to remember is that there is no "right" way to run a family. Every family has to figure out what works for them. That being said, here are a few tips for preparing your children to move abroad.
Tell your children as soon as possible that they will be moving abroad. Don't think you will make it easier on them by waiting until a later date - they will want to feel like you included them in the process.
The age of each of your children is so important. A young child may not be able to fully appreciate what it means to move to another part of the world - a teenager knows exactly what it means and is likely to - at the very least - have some reservations.
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Consider the fact that your children will be immersed in a new culture. How much of your home culture do you want them to retain? Are they old enough to make that decision for themselves? Young children who move overseas sometimes start to feel like they are not a part of either culture - they don't quite feel connected to their country's or the adoptive country's culture. Hence, Third-Culture Kids.
Thoughts to consider:
What aspects of my child's life can be "moved" to the new country, and what aspects cannot be?
Knowing my child(ren), what are some special considerations that will be important for success?
What are the strengths of my child(ren)? How can we play to these in order to help succeed in this transition?
What are areas for growth? Try to play to your child's strengths rather than focus too much on areas where he or she may need to grow.
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| This Issue Written by Joshua Wood
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Joshua Wood is one of the owners of ExpatExchange.com. In addition to expatriates and international relocation, he has written about numerous other topics over the last 15 years. He is also a licensed counselor and psychotherapist, and one of his primary areas of interest is the psychological impact of international relocation.
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