Preparing Your Children for a Major Move

I am a military wife. That phrase means different things to different people. To some, it simply means, "spouse". For others, whose husbands' jobs consume every waking hour and many of their sleeping hours, it means a great deal more. My husband is away from home for five days and nights out of every ten. The title of "Military Wife" means that I manage all aspects of our household and am the primary caregiver for our child. In military families, children can very easily become lost in the shuffle and their unique needs are sometimes forgotten in the rush of other important duties and responsibilities.

Moving is a very large part of military life, albeit smaller now than it was before so many Clinton era budget cuts, but nevertheless a very large part of our lives. Too often, the military member and their spouse get caught up in the logistical details of their moves to remember that their children have very special needs at these crucial times. I once was in the Commissary rest room, changing my son's diaper, when a woman came in with two completely inconsolable children. It seems they had just arrived in Montana from a four-year assignment in Japan and the children wanted to "go home" to Japan. The freezing winds and deep snows that greeted them when they arrived in Montana were completely unexpected and less than welcoming to the children that only knew the temperate weather of a Pacific island all their lives. Unfortunately, their parents hadn't prepared them for the move physically or psychologically. The poor children didn't even have hats to cover their poor freezing little ears! This is a case of a family being ill prepared for a move and, unfortunately, it happens more often than it should. Following are a few important things that you should remember about preparing your children for a major change of residence.

Learn About Where You Are Going