Settling the Kids...

So we arrived safely in JFK, and before we were off the plane, my first thought went to the Kids.  How will they settle, will they be homesick, living in an apartment for a month and them moving again will this upset them more, I am telling you all the emotions that I went through was unbelievable.   If I am being honest I also said to myself if Dylon (he is my eldest and was nine when we moved) didn’t settle and he hated it then we would be packing up and going home!!, but it was incredible how they coped.  Everyone all says to you, that Kids adapt quicker and they cope better especially when they are young.. and I can say that it is so true..

We actually left Ireland the day before my daughter’s 3^rd birthday, so we agreed that after we arrived we would have a big day out in New York for her.  Now you have to keep in mind that we were jet lagged,  it was over 10 years since I was in New York last, and we have only a suitcase of clothes for 1 month (for me this is not nearly enough.. I am a shopaholic!!), but we kept our word, and we spend the day in New York – going to Toy r Us in Times Square, having hotdogs from the vendors on the street and riding the subway – which by the way was her favorite thing of the day!!!   I think the key thing for me to ensure that Kids felt settled and for them to feel comfortable that this was their home was to make sure that for the month we were in the temp accommodation we kept busy.  Every day we did something, walked to the Hudson, went into the city, even just going to the farmers market, it made them feel  normal, and by doing this New Jersey felt more like home than just a holiday.

I was aware that we would them have the chaos of moving again when all our furniture arrived, but I have to say because we became familiar with our surrounding as quickly as we could the kids had  no issues when we moved to the house, which was a huge relief to us. I suppose a good sign that your kids have settled is that your still unpacking the van, and Dylon is out playing football (sorry Soccer) with his new best friends ….

Jenny xx