Build-up to a move - Saying goodbye

Saying good-bye with a dance in the park

Saying goodbye is the hardest part of leaving. It's tough for us, but how do we prep our kids?

How do you get a toddler to understand they’re moving country? Well, I’m proud to say that Little Bear has been confidently and happily announcing that we’re ‘moving till ‘tockho’m soon’and that it’s going to be ‘weally, weally fun’. He’s even excited about ‘riding da boat to Tockhom’(no, we’re not mad, we’re actually flying there). No trauma, no fears of displacement. He’s clearly fine with it all…
 
Well, let’s be honest, he’s two. He has no f-ing idea what’s about to happen. I could have told him we were moving to a dessert in Afghanistan or a frozen lake in Siberia for the rest of our lives, and he’d be equally ecstatic.
 
I’m pretty sure there’s no sensible solution to ‘getting them ready for the move’. When they’ve spent their entire lives in one home regularly meeting the same friends, they’re just not yet aware enough to understand the enormity of moving to a new country. Pre-moving, it’s a lot more difficult for us adults.

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