Moving into a new home when you go through divorce gives you a chance to have a fresh start. While most adults can appreciate that, it might be a challenge for your children to accept the fact that they have a new home.
As a parent, it’s your duty to help your children adjust to the situation. There are many ways to help your children think of the new house as their home.
Give the kids their own space
Having their own space in your home will help your children feel like they belong there and are welcome. This can be an entire bedroom if space allows. However, you can also give them a dedicated set of drawers or a space where they can store their belongings within a shared bedroom or other living area.
Let them help decorate
You can let the kids help you decorate your new place. They can pick a color for the walls in their room if you can paint or they can choose the pictures to hang. Giving them specific options to choose from might be a good idea so their choices work well with the overall scheme of the home.
Initiate new traditions
The traditions that you start with your kids don’t have to be extravagant or centered around a holiday. Things like a monthly movie night, making ice cream sundaes or playing board games together can help them build positive memories in the new home. Try to introduce things they enjoy that you can do with them as you initiate these new traditions.
Another thing you can do is get the parenting plan in place as quickly as possible. Having the permanent plan in place lets the kids adjust to the new way of life without a temporary arrangement dragging on and on. For many, working with the other parent is the best way to get this done quickly.
