Moving into a new home with family is no easy feat. While creating a comforting and nurturing environment, you must take care of your kid’s mental and physical development. With all the changes, some parenting tips can help your kids to settle in quickly.
Sawsan Hamzeh, a PCI-certified parent coach, shares expert advice on fostering a loving and nurturing family atmosphere. Keep reading to find out more about settling in and filling your new home with love and positive vibes.
- Creating a Loving Family Atmosphere
- Making Children Feel at Home
- Managing Transitions and Changes
- Practical Tips for Families to Boost Their Home Experience
Creating a Loving Family Atmosphere
Every parent wants the best for their children, regardless of age. Whether you’re moving to Dubai with your family or relocating closer to your office, a happy home instantly results in a happier life. Several essential factors help create a nurturing home environment.
Mutual understanding, open communication, and family bonding also enhance the quality of time spent together. Scroll down to find more about some simple ways to create a relaxing environment and bond as a family in your new home.
Simple Ways to Create a Warm Family Environment
To create a homely environment, it starts by creating family values, achieved by maintaining mutual respect between family members. Several factors weigh in, the most popular including:
- Support your children through all their accomplishments.
- Pay attention to your child’s efforts to make you happy and give them ample appreciation.
- Ask your child about their needs and preferences and cooperate with them.
- Openly communicate with your kids to avoid misunderstandings.
Importance of Children’s Say in Decorating Their Room
One of the best perks of moving to a new home is having a new private space. With some decoration and arrangement, you can make your space comfy. You should also follow kids’ room decor ideas to create a perfect space for them.
However, you must allow children to express their wishes while decorating their space. This will help build a sense of love and belonging, further enhancing their imagination and decision-making skills. Kids are visual learners.
A say in designing their room creates a special bond and sense of safety with their space. Besides, it develops a sense of self-autonomy and personal development.
Role of Communication in Creating a Loving Household
Shared family spaces are the heart of daily family life, the place where we can create a sense of comfort and eliminate any immediate formalities. Adopting the right mindset can transform your shared family space into the ultimate communication zone.
As Sawsan Hamzeh says, “communication means I am heard, I do matter in the family and I am respected.” That’s why it is fundamental in creating family bonding, warmth and love.
Communication means I am heard, I do matter in the family and I am respected.
Sawsan Hamzeh, adding why it is fundamental in creating family bonding, warmth and love.
Benefits of Shared Family Spaces
Shared spaces are the zones where family values, bonding, communication and love are practised. Kitchen spaces and living rooms create a family environment, making them the safe zone for communication
Making Children Feel at Home
What Are Tips That Help Children Adapt to a New Home?
Your go-to tactic is to make their dreams come true. This is done by making them participate in the decision to choose the new place, which enhances their imagination about this place. It helps children dream of their own spaces and the decoration of these places, so when it’s there, it’s like a dream come true. In addition, a sense of belonging will be achieved immediately because they visualize themselves in every aspect of the new home.
How Can You Involve Your Children in the Process of Settling Into a New Space?
You have to allow them to be part of the decision-making, then the planning and decorating. Sometimes, children won’t make the right decisions, so you should discuss with them:
- Why it’s not doable
- Give them choices for alternative plans that work
- Help them make the right decision.
From choosing the right curtains for the kid’s home to getting their bedsheets, let your kids be part of setting up their new space.
Are There Specific Activities/Routines That Can Make Children Feel More Comfortable in Their New Environment?
Yes, there is. Before moving to the new environment, make sure to do the following
- Interact and have a meaningful conversation with your child about the new home, allowing them to visualise all the memories they will make.
- Stay focused on their feelings and thoughts
- Engage them in energetic activities like building a house with the moving boxes so they can release their negative energy.
- Let them jump on the mattresses so they can release their negative energy.
What Are Some Creative Ways to Make a Child’s Room Feel Special and Unique to Them?
With a child’s everchanging and developing personality, their tastes and preferences will change from one to the other swiftly. To make a child feel special about their space, here are the exclusive parenting tips from Sawsan Hamzeh, a PCI-certified parent coach, that are highly effective:
- Incorporate your kid’s favourite colours and designs in their room.
- Decorate the space according to your children’s preferences
- Find appropriate homeschooling decor to make a homeschooled kid feel comfortable.
- Use their preferred gadgets or toys in decoration
- Add a family picture that shows a sense of love and warmth.
Managing Transitions and Changes
Managing transitions and settling into a new home can go wrong if the appropriate steps are not taken. However, parents can make their move easier by making small changes, including making a moving checklist before moving!
What Advice Do You Have for Parents Moving with Kids?
It’s surely challenging, but with some tips, you can make it not a hassle but a fun one and filled with memories. Here are some ways that will help you in this step.
- Having an open conversation with your children about their trigger points and what makes them uncomfortable is detrimental to understanding what they might be going through with the move.
- Acknowledge their feelings and ask how you can lend a helping hand in making them feel safer.
- Visiting the place more than once before moving to enhance their imagination
- Simulating a space that is a comfort zone for them in the old house makes them feel connected.
How Can Parents Help Children Maintain a Sense of Stability and Routine During a Move?
According to Sawsan Hamzeh, The child’s personal space represents their current state of mind. To prevent losing a sense of stability, you can do the following
- Arrange your kid’s rooms with priority elements first, including their daily clothing, books and toys.
- Decrease any unnecessary clutter
- Use warm lighting to mimic their natural sleeping environment for a comfortable first night’s sleep.
What Should Parents Be Mindful of When Supporting Their Children During Big Changes?
Big changes might be uncomfortable for little ones, yet they can increase their resilience and adaption to future changes in their lives. This is achieved by
- Giving them ample time to be prepared
- Addressing and acknowledging their feelings
- Talking about this new change and highlighting the positive parts of it
- Maintaining a routine and making your child a part of the move – they matter.
- Don’t ignore them during the busy time of moving to the new place
- Let them participate in the decision and the process
- Allow them to visit and see their friends in the old neighborhood.
Practical Tips for Families to Boost Their Home Experience
To settle into your new home with ease, parents can adopt personal routines and lifestyle changes that involve their kids to bring a fresh change to their home lives. From family bonding to family excursions, here are a few ways to ensure your home is the best out there!
Are There Any Specific Habits That Can Help a Family Feel More Connected in a New Home?
While family bonding and family time are very important, it has to be planned from start to finish. From family cooperation to dinner preparation, open communication during dinner time about your day and listening to each other’s stories invite moments of laughter and unforgettable memories.
- Family daily dinners are planned to be bonding time, starting with cooperation while preparing, communication during dinner time about the day, listening to each other’s stories, and having assigned seating for each family member to avoid conflicts.
- Have a ritual for bedtime, especially for little ones.
- Spend one-on-one time with them in their rooms to have more private talks.
What Final Advice Would You Give to Parents Wanting to Turn Their House Into a Loving and Welcoming Home?
It’s important to make sure that your new house feels really like home not only through decorating but also through human connections; here is some advice that Sawsan shared:
- Modeling the sense of love and settlement between the child and their parents.
- Listing the advantages of the new place and connecting it to family values and bonding
- Spend more time with your children to help them navigate and healthily deal with their emotions.
- Create happy moments and connect with your children like you never have before.
- Start creating happy moments and memories while and after moving to create a sense of connection.
- Get to meet your neighbors so they feel welcome in the neighborhood.
Creating a loving home is more than just providing shelter; it’s about nurturing your child’s emotional well-being. By following these expert tips, you can build a strong family bond and help your kids thrive
Sawsan Hamzeh is a Parent coach/ holistic healer PCI Certified Parent Coach, MNHC certified Holistic Healer founder of Heartfelt Parenting and a mum of three girls.
Having spent 20 years in pharmaceutical sector in sales and marketing, she decided to follow her passion and devote her skills, time and heart towards helping parents in their parenting journey.
She is so passionate to help parents enjoy journey while focusing on the destination. She follows the Appreciative Inquiry methodology in her coaching, which focuses on the strengths and AHA moments to overcome the challenges and find the way for a joyful life.
Knowing that some of the challenges come from the the parents’ own stress and traumas, she did her 4 years studies in holistic healing to help parents connect with their own emotions and thoughts to become a better version of themselves, and to connect with their own children.
The principles followed in her coaching are mix between new and old parenting theories, in addition to the Islamic theories of parenting to achieve a balanced parenting style. Sawsan provides individual or couple coaching sessions, workshops and trainings, and she is a regular host on TV shows on MBC and Al Hurra TV.
