Self-Care, Suburban Living

3 Ways To Help Your Kids Create Community After A Summer Move

A summer move is a blessing in so many ways. You have a bit more wiggle room with shorter work days or downtime with kids’ school, you have more to look forward to in your new town (summer activities galore), and your home feels a bit cozier and like its potential is endless in the happier season. 

As fall starts to roll around and with it back-to-school season, it feels a bit more imperative to find routine and different touch-points that can ground you and your family. When it comes to the little ones in our family, it’s even more important to help them find the bridge that will carry them into their new life and remind them that they still have so much to look forward to. 

Helping them find community after a summer move isn’t always as easy as encouraging them to make new friends because at the heart of it, it’s more about reminding them all the ways that they (and their uniqueness) will belong no matter the place. 

A big part of helping them find that confidence is by starting exactly where you are.  

Give them ownership of making it feel like home 

Whether your kids are toddlers or well into their teens, giving them ownership of helping the new house (and town) feel like home is essential to helping them see themselves at home in it. Make it a family activity to pick out new decor or landscaping for your home or encourage them to make a list of things they want to be able to do around town regularly.

Invest time and energy into finding the right activities

If your child is more introverted, don’t force them to adjust to the new home by picking up a sport, instead find a way to meet them where they are. A reading group at your local library may make more sense for your book-loving introvert, for instance. Focus on making the town fit into your kiddo’s needs instead of making them fit into the town’s MO. 

Parent groups 

If you’re the parent of a baby or toddler who still depends on you for a lot of their socializing, focus on finding a parenting group or baby classes that help retain any routines you had prior to moving. Keeping familiar activities in both of your schedules can help in making the transition less jarring and underscore how your new home is already starting to feel like home in all the ways that count. 

Whether your kids are settling in nicely or fighting the process of embracing a new home, encouraging words and offering choice and opportunity will help everyone get settled. We know how hard you worked to make your dream home a reality, now it’s about finding the best ways to fit everyone’s dream day-to-day within it all.