One in five American families will move every year. Moving is one of the most stress-producing events a family has to go through. Experts say it can be harder for children. How do you help your child adjust to the changes? The Ricardos moved from their old house to a new home. Same family, same dog-but it was harder for 9-year-old Elena. She hated the room, the house and everything. She hated leaving her friends the most. " I was so emotional. I mean, saying goodbye to all my friends.....my very close friends, who was my neighbor, made me so sad," says Elena. For some children, the emotional stress of moving is not much more different from the emotions when someone has died. "There's that sense that, 'I've lost my friends, my friends, my base, my school, my teachers-everything I knew that made me feel safe is all gone now. I have to start over," says Dr. Tim Jordan. Starting over is exactly Dr. Tim Jordan's advice. Make new friends, enter the new school and enter the new neighborhood. And here are some other pieces of advice. * Explain clearly to the children why the move is necessary. * Familiarize  the children as much as possible with the new area with maps, photographs or the daily newspaper. * After the move, got the children to join in activities in the place. * Help the children keep in touch with friends from the neighborhood before through telephone, letters, e-mail, and personal visits. Which of the following is useful to reduce the children's stress before the move?
Let doctors give children some advice. Try letting children accept the fact of moving. Let children keep in touch with their former friends. Copy the new environment in the old home.