Moving house

[Dogzombie]

Hello
We are moving house next month which means a school change for my DC. DD is ok and excited. DS (7) who is generally more of an anxious child is terrified and upset and we are seeing angry outbursts from him. He doesn’t want to leave his friends or house.

What can I do to help him? I want to reassure him but nothing I say is helping.
Any advice?

Sorry to hear that your son is struggling. It’s perfectly natural that he is worried, it’s a massive change for him. I think that the best way to support him is to allow him to experience and express his feelings. You could regularly set aside some time to really listen to him and reflect his feelings back to him so he knows you have heard him. He needs to know that you are there for him to support these feelings. He also needs to know that they are natural feelings. After all, it’s a big change and one that he hasn’t chosen.

Have you been able to speak to the new school about what support they have planned for his transition? If not, that might be something to explore. You could then tell him, specifically, what that will be like. Reassure him that he will get lots of support from school. Could you plan a visit back to see his friends in the Easter hols?

Are you able to visit the new area? You could find fun things to do there so he’s got something specific to focus on at the new place.

It must be really hard for you too. Moving is challenging enough without this extra difficulty. Hopefully you have a good support network to lean on. Take care