Moving With Kids (Part 6) | Moving To Hawaii

When you decide to move somewhere, whether it be down the street or on the other side of the planet, there is naturally excitement, anxiety, and the unknown. As adults, we process that through the experiences, assumptions, and interpretations we go through in day to day life. But for kids, this experience is a sensory overload. From the moment we take a baby home from the hospital, it’s all about routine. When will they eat? When will they sleep? Who are the people they get to know as their support system etc. When that dynamic gets changed, it can be like tossing your cat in the bathtub. Pure chaos!

When my family and I made the trek to Hawaii, my kids were young. Only three months old and just past three years old. On top of that, we lived in a hotel room for thirty days before we moved into our house. This was an adventure, to say the least. Our kids were too young to really understand what was going on, but they certainly understood after a few weeks that we weren’t on vacation, but rather where we lived had completely changed.

Moving To Hawaii With Kids

So what did we do to prepare for this? We tried to keep their routine as close to what they had previously known before. Bedtime started at the same time. Baths and story time were similar. But the biggest changes were the new fun things we were able to introduce. Going for walks on the beach at night and seeing turtles. Roasting smores over an open fire on a random weeknight. Checking out farmer’s markets in different areas of the island. Going to new playgrounds. The list was honestly pretty endless when we first arrived. This enabled them to build a comfort level at their own pace and not only keep with their routine but look forward to some of the new and exciting things we hadn’t done previously.

Obviously my experience was with young children, and if my kids had been older, how we handled things would have looked a lot different. I think you need to get buy-in from the older kids. Do they want to do this? The friends debate is sure to come up among other topics I’m sure, but get them involved in as many decisions as possible. The biggest one that comes to mind is school. Ask five people on the island how they feel about schools, and you will most likely get five different answers. My best advice is to read as much as possible, come over and ask people their opinions, and go visit. I would be happy to introduce you to people that can give their opinions on schools if you reach out to me.

Moving To Hawaii Blogs

Making The Decision (Part 1)
Choosing A Moving Company (Part 2)
Tips For Shipping Your Car To Hawaii (Part 3)
Bringing Your Pet To Hawaii (Part 4)
Rent Or Buy On The Big Island (Part 5)
Moving With Kids (Part 6)