Moving To Europe With A Young Family
The idea of moving to Europe can seem incredibly attractive, but the appeal may be somewhat reduced if you have young children. In fact, your sense of excitement may be mixed with concerns about how the children will react to the changes that are involved.
I think that the first thing to say is that this is surely the sign that you are a caring parent. It is perfectly natural to have such concerns and it would actually be more surprising if you didn't have worries of this nature. But it also needs to be said that kids are often more flexible than we may imagine.
Although there will undoubtedly be initial concerns,
there's the opportunity here to have real benefits for the entire family. In order to have the best chance of making a successful transition, it's certainly important that you should prepare correctly. I don't think that it's wise to make the decision to simply hope that things turn out well.
You may feel that such an approach has served you well in the past, but you probably won't want to be taking too many risks in these circumstances. Apart from anything else, you'll certainly find that your children want the assurance that comes with knowing that there is a plan in place.
There will certainly be questions to be asked and there will be the reasonable expectation that you should be the one to provide the answers. The fear of the unknown will be one of the more significant hurdles to be overcome and it certainly helps if you're able to demonstrate that you already have a suitable strategy.
What concerns are your children likely to have? It seems obvious to suggest that they'll be worried about being moved away from friends and family members. They will almost certainly have concerns associated with the ease of meeting new friends, particularly if there is some sort of language barrier involved.
Dealing with these issues is often a case of breaking the situation down into simple steps. As an example, it seems like a sensible move to register for some language classes, prior to your departure. In fact, you'll ideally want to ensure that all family members are gaining knowledge of the new language in good time. This isn't somthing that is only useful for children; you'll discover that it will ease the transition for all.
Knowing that they will be able to communicate with other kids will certainly make the situation that bit easier. It's also important, of course, that they should be comfortable with the school that has been selected. If possible, involve them within the selection process and certainly take them along to meet new teachers.
By involving the children in your plans, it's likely that you'll make your task a lot easier.