Don’t Forget The Children In Your Move
Gerry Gill Belleville Real Estate Help – Selling Belleville Real Estate, Trenton Real Estate and Quinte Real Estate includes meeting the needs of the members of your family, and this includes the needs of children. I don’t deal with just buying and selling houses, I help move families. Don’t forget the children!
Eastern Ontario and specifically Quinte West, Belleville, Stirling and Prince Edward County love families, and so this is yet another good choice of location to move your family here.
As a Realtor® I understand that your children have needs in making a real estate move. We can all identify that we are comfortable with things we are familiar with and know about, and we get anxious about things that are new and uncertain. Children are no different and children will react when they hear that you are moving to a different place, so you may want to be prepared. Some suggestions would be to inform the children ahead of time and help them absorb the fact that you are moving, AND, be prepared in advance for this family discussion. Take advantage of the fact that you can help by making the unknown information about a move and a new location an exciting family discussion. Some children will feel concern when they know that you are moving. There are lots of different reasons why they react, it would be because they are afraid that they won’t have friends there or they will be far from their relatives and friends.
Have A Planned Family Discussion, and include your children. You are not just changing an address, you are moving your family. The more opportunities to include your children in your family move, the more positive results you will have. Ask for their ideas and input. Ask about their fears and show your help. In order to make moving a successful one, you have to let the kids be involved from the start. You have to advise them about moving ahead of time and let them know all the good things about moving and the new adventures and events that will take place.
Suggestion: Pull up your new location on a map and show them the location and surrounding areas where future family outings will take place. Explore together the sports and music events, information about children and youth events, which you can easily access at the local libraries. Look at the wonderful beaches in nearby Prince Edward County. Look at the on-going community events which I have linked to on my website. Get your children excited about all the details that they need to know about to get their interest and let them feel part of the process. Talk about and plan family outings and celebrate the many festivals throughout the year here and in surrounding areas.
There are many local festivals nearby – such as creating personalized family watercrafts in “Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny”:
” To commemorate a devastating flood that crippled the downtown in 1980, Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny is an exciting ten-kilometer race that takes place April 3rd 2010 on the Ganaraska River, and draws crowds of up to 15,000 spectators. The race includes just about anything imaginable that can float! Visit: www.floatyourfanny.ca.”
Or look at the nearby orchards, fishing, swimming at the beautiful sand dunes and beaches in the County, and visit all the beautiful places and have fun with all the amenities there.
Have a family suggestion night and give your children their voice and chance to make suggestions on how to make moving a good one.
If your children have concerns about losing existing friends, or being far from relatives, you may want to ask them to do a project where they put a map of their new location, new phone number and mailing address labels together that they can hand out to their friends and family so they can stay in touch. Together, you can also prepare address labels for their friends and family to fill out so your children can write back. You may want to give your child an inexpensive camera where they can take photos of some activities in their location that they can send off to their friends and family members. If the children are young, they can draw pictures and send off. There may be the possibility that some existing friends and/or family members might be travelling near the new location and you and your children can look at the local events and activities in their new location that they can give their friends and family as a suggested planned get together. Make them feel that they are important, so it is better to tell them the plans and let them pack with you. It is recommended to always ask how they feel and let them ask questions so they will feel comfortable about moving.
By including the children and providing information you gain your children’s interests in moving.
Make sure to show them that all their belongings are put safely into boxes and they can bring all their things with them in their new home. You may want to have a family project of decorating the moving boxes, or doing a pictoral of your child’s belongings that are in their specific moving cartons. Before your move or when you are in your new home ask them if they want to arrange their rooms similar to the style that are familiar to them, or have a special day when you look at new bedroom themes and get them excited about redecorating for their new rooms.
You also have to help your children find new friends and let them enjoy what this part of Eastern Ontario has to offer.
Look at my links for schools, links for on-going community events. Look at the websites for Belleville, Quinte West, etc. and see links for sports and music/dancing venues.
Additionally, here are some internet sites for things for children and youth to enjoy:
CHATEAU MEDDYBEMPS http://www.meddybemps.com/index.html
Fun learning activities for all ages but especially for preschool and primary aged children. Meet the Tooth Fairy, explore inventions, make a pizza or decorate a cake. Older kids will enjoy story starters and games.
FUN BRAIN http://www.funbrain.com/index.html
Fun and educational games for kids of all ages. Math, grammar, science, spelling, history and lots more
MYSTERNET’S KID MYSTERIES http://kids.mysterynet.com/
This site includes activities from Chirp, Chickadee and Owl magazines. Lots of science fun, games, puzzles and crafts.
NICK JR. http://www.nickjr.com/
Find activities and games for your preschooler with favorites like Dora, Diego and other TV characters.
OWL KIDS http://owlkids.com/
This site includes activities from Chirp, Chickadee and Owl magazines. Lots of science fun, games, puzzles and crafts.
PBS KIDS http://pbskids.org/
Play educational games, watch PBS KIDS shows and find activities like coloring and music.
SESAME STREET http://www.sesamestreet.org/home
Play free Sesame Street online games! Learn about letters, numbers, shapes, music and art with all your favourite characters like Elmo, Grover and Abby!
TVO KIDS http://www.tvokids.com/
Tvokids.com has fun and engaging activities for kids ages 3 through 10 years old with favourites like The Adventures of Sir Readsalot and Pillars of Freedom.
UP TO TEN http://www.uptoten.com/
Over 100 learning games and activities for kids aged up to ten, including coloring, art activities, online stories, puzzles, mazes, and much more.
and when you are looking for a real estate agent, or want to refer your friends and family to a good real estate agent – whether buying or selling Belleville Real Estate, Trenton Real Estate, Prince Edward County Real Estate, call me – Gerry Gill at 613 813-4379 or 613 966-6060 – the agent that goes the extra miles for families
About Me
I am a successful businessman with extensive experience in Real Estate both in private and public sectors. During my forty-year career, I have held senior management positions in the trust company industry. I have also owned and operated solely, and in partnership, several successful companies.