Yesterday we had a nice visit from a Realtor who informed us the bank had foreclosed on the property and needed us to move out ASAP. They will offer us cash for a quick move out. All in all it stinks but it could definitely be worse!
So how did we break it to the kids?
First we reminded them that we can't control everything, some things are out of our control. We told them that we followed all the rules, did everything right, paid our rent every month. But our landlord did not pay all of his obligations on his end. As a result we were going to move, to a new house.
We did make sure to reinforce some key points
- We will be together as a family! And that is the most important thing!
- All of our things will come with us, beds, toys, favorite chairs, games, TV, Wii (you know the important things!)
- They will stay at their current school for the remainder of the year, we will explore school options for next year over the summer.
- We will all miss our friends but we are staying right in the same town so we will visit and see them often.
Now that we have looked at a house and they know that we are doing something to make this situation better, they seem to be doing better. But we will keep our eyes and ears open and supply lots of extra hugs.
What have you had to explain to your kids? How did they take it?
1 comment:
I remember something like this when I taught 4th grade. The entire 4th grade had taken a test in late October. The administration then decided to rearrange the classrooms according to test scores. It was a pretty big deal as students were used to their classroom communities and didn't want to be broken apart. They also didn't want to be labeled as being in the "dumb" class if their scores weren't high enough. I felt incredibly awful about the whole thing and even worse when the administration told us that we had to tell our students. Earlier they had promised to tell the students as a whole and then decided they didn't want to look bad. I think it was a blessing that it happened this way. I was able to gather my students for story time and read them the book Alexander and the No Good, Terrible, Very Bad Day. We talked about how Alexander took the news and then I explained the big news. Kids cried and were upset but, compared to teachers who just taught up until the 11am switch time, my students seemed better adjusted because I took the time to explain and show care/concern. I think what you did by talking with your children was the best. Communication is key and they'll be sad for a while but they'll grow up appreciating that you talked with them.
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