First Experiences: Moving

Date: 1987
Author: Fred Rogers
Photographs: Jim Judkis
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Series: First Experiences
ISBN: 0399213848

Text and photographs copyright © 1987 by Family Communications, Inc.

Summary

Moving is a publication from the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood First Experiences series. In this book, real life photos are used to help young people feel more comfortable when their family moves.

A Note From Fred Rogers

For a family with young children, moving to a new home can be an especially stressful time. Adults and children alike often find it hard to say goodbye to the people and places they know and love. Very young children who have not yet made close attachments outside of the family may be worried most by the moving around of familiar objects and the upsets in familiar routines. We need to help them realize that indeed they and their belongings will be going to the new home, that they will be taken care of.

The weeks leading up to moving day are often hectic and busy. Finding ways to include young children in some of the moving process can help them understand that they're a real part of what's going on. You might give them a special box to pack their own way -- a box they can unpack in the new home. That could give them a sense of continuity and a feeling that they still ahve some control in an otherwise unsettled time. And encouraging them to talk about their feelings can help them experience a move as the adventure that it truly can be.