How to Move With Teenagers
- 1). Explore your new hometown with your teen. If possible, visit the city or town together. If distance rules out a visit, research your new community on the Internet. Point out all the places, organizations and clubs that might offer new opportunities that would interest your teen.
- 2). Share information about the move with your teenager. If a new job with better pay or a financial need triggered the decision to relocate, explain why moving is necessary. Get out your bills and run through the numbers together. When treated like adults, most teenagers will rise to the occasion.
- 3). Plan some visits back to your old home for your teenager and offer to accommodate any friends that can make the trip to your new home. Check bus, train and plane routes together. Concrete facts are reassuring. Not all moves involve thousands of miles of distance. If you are headed someplace that's a day's driving time away, discuss the possibility of your son or daughter driving back to see old friends on weekends.
- 4). Consider leaving an older teen with a relative or close family friend if you have that option. Teens who are headed into their senior year of high school often leave home soon after to attend college or to try a taste of life on their own. Leaving a teenager behind may not be your ultimate decision, but at least sit down with everyone who would be involved and weigh the pros and cons.
- 5). Listen to what your teenager is telling you. You may not be able to change the circumstances, but you can listen and empathize with what your teenager is experiencing. Moving involves some significant losses for your teen. If he feels sad or angry do not dismiss it, or assume he'll get over it. Don't hand him a camera and tell him to shoot some photos for a scrapbook. Spend time with your teen and support him through the move.
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