But I like my house, Mom
by Erica Beiser
Even though I work at Barrett Moving & Storage, handle local, cross country and international moves daily, this does not make me immune to the normal responses of children, including my own!! My fiance and I are in the process of buying and moving to our second home. We have spent countless hours going over details and plans of what we would like to do and where we will put things in our new home.
In the midst all of this, all we are told by our three-year-old daughter “But I like my house, I don’t want to move.” That is when the mother part of me kicks in and I tell her it will be fine and to go play and not worry about it. But, after giving it more constructive though, I decided to go at it from another angle. Mind you she is three, and the only home she knows is the one we currently live in, so to her, “Why move??” is a logical question.
What we have taken to doing is when we are discussing the possible new house, I go and get her, and include her in the conversation. She has seen the home in question, so when speaking about it she knows what we are talking about. I bring up things like, “Think about the super big yard your swing set can go in.” and “Maybe when you get a little bigger we could get a dog because the yard is fenced.” Things that she can relate to and understand.
We have tried to make this a huge adventure for her. She would live closer to her grandma, and that has been a big plus in our favor, because what child doesn’t like to go to grandma’s house? And, thankfully she is starting to understand why we might be moving: so we have more room for all HER stuff!!! Happy moving to me!!!