How to Help a Teenager Get Ready for a Huge Move?

I moved many times when I was young... It is always hard, and I cried and yelled at my parents. Once we got to the new place it always worked out. I would recommend looking into fun stuff at your new place... Is there an amusement park or something unique to the area? Some outdoor attractions or national parks? Anything at all that would be exciting that you could start looking into and engage your son with looking forward to?? SPorts teams that you could go to a game? Find something to get excited about!

I truly hope he is in counselling with a very good therapist who specializes in adoptions. Good luck with your move.

Moving is hard for anyone...but a teenagers world ends at their nose...so it's especially hard for them. I moved A LOT growing up. I went to 5 different H.S. by my sophmore year! yikes. It was tough...but in the end I learned so much. I can easily make new friends because I had to. I have friends all over the country. And while it was hard to leave friends and family behind...in a month or so I was excited about the new people I was meeting and the new area. Maybe let him pick out his own room in the new house, decorate it how he wants, tell him it's a new beginning so he can reinvent himself if he'd like. I was sort of shy at one school and decided on my next move I'd be super outgoing and just see what happens. I figured I'd wouldn't be there long so who cares? But I wound up staying for a few years and I made great friends and had a great time.

All in all, he won't be happy with you guys for a period of time. But he is your son now and you make the decisions. He doesn't have a choice to stay or go...he's going. Just try to make it as nice for him as possible. Like you said, he can go home to visit on breaks....but this is not his decision. He only has 2 yrs left of school and sometimes it's nice being the new kid. :)
Good luck!

Don't the school have a counselor? Or take the child to a base counselor.

We have a site, www.navyformoms.com that may help. I'm sure the army has some as well. Where are you moving to?

Learning about where you are going helps to excite kids about what all they can discover.

With your teenager I understand you need to be delicate. But teenagers need to understand life doesn't always do what they want. They need to understand and deal with adversity. They must value family over their comfort zone.

Good luck! J.

L. give him a camera and encorage him to take lots of pictures.Also contiue to let him know that your family would not be complete without him. Make him feel so loved that he cannot help but want to go when the time comes. then just pray alot about it. K.

It is never easy to move with the military if you come into late in life like you and I have. I married my husband when my son was 9 and our first move was only 3 hours away. The girls had a harder time because they were teenagers and it is harder for them I believe. If you can live on base the transistion will not be so hard for him. We have never lived on base, but it would have been great for the amount of kids that are so close and going through the same issues of moving and not knowing anyone. You are welcome to call me and I will be glad to tell you all that I have learned over my past 6 years of being a military wife. I know that things are a little different with the Army than they are with the Air Force, but a lot of things are similar. You can reach me today after 7:30 pm at ###-###-####.

It sounds like you're already doing this, but empathize! Take every chance to let him know you're sorry this move is causing him sadness, but ALSO let it be a good learning opportunity. At 16 it won't be long before it's time for him to go to college or in the service or somewhere on his own anyway. Try to help him see it as an adventure -for all of you! He will encounter so many new people and places by moving. Give him a journal and encourage him to write about everything. Reassure him that he will get to "come home" again for visits, but try to relay the fact that home is actually where the people you love are -without them it's just a familiar place. It's really hard at his age, so just try to empathize while putting as positive a spin on it as you can. I don't know if he's really into girls or a certain activity, but encourage him by reminding him that there will be a whole new group of girls or a brand new "playing field" for whatever activities he's into. Don't forget to tell him that you're all a little scared to go into a brand new situation, but life is alllll about change. Life is constantly changing, so it's something he has to get used to. Good luck -I know it won't be easy!