Chance Gates' Blog

The good news: in the middle of a really tough economy, you land a job offer. The bad news: you have to explain to your teenage children that it means moving out of state. Being one of those teenagers, who got pulled out of state more time than I would like to count. I understand the frustration that is involved. There are, however, steps you can take to make the transition more manageable.
As a child, I would prefer to move before school let out. This way I had time to make friends before the summer. It didn’t hurt that track season always started in the spring and I would pick up a lot of my friends during track.
The nice thing is the internet has made it possible for the whole family to do the research. Looking at local bloggers is a great way to check out different parts of town. With everything that goes into relocation, it is easy to turn family life into a never-ending series of “to do” lists. Find time to let your family talk out loud about the move. Let your kids know that it is okay, everything will workout. When I was young there was no conversation it was “we are moving start packing”. So talk to the children let them know this is what is best for the family. This is also a chance for them to start over. For example my oldest son last year kept getting in trouble at the school he was attending. Instead of getting picked on he was quickly becoming one of the bullies. I decided this was not a good thing. So I pulled him out of the local High School and put him into an academy. I also let him know, in this school no one knows you, and this is a fresh start. The turn around was remarkable, for the first time in a long time, he actually cares how he is doing in school.
Don’t wait to get your family members involved with hobbies or sports that they love to do. It not only feels more like home when everyone is doing what they enjoy. It is also away to work out a lot of frustration.
Start gathering data from your physician, dentist and school administrators earlier rather than later. It will make one less thing to worry about when it is time to move.
Moving is a very complex thing and you have enough to worry about. So make sure you use a professional who knows the local real estate market. If you don’t know one, ask around almost everybody ask a good real estate story to tell.