Home renovations are exciting until you realize that it will disrupt your daily life. It’s a long chaotic road you’ll have to endure before you enjoy your home improvements. While it’s the most stressful for you, don’t think that it doesn’t frustrate your children, too.
Minor adjustments to you can be significant changes for them. If you’re not careful about how you go into this, you increase the chances of making the experience more difficult for your family. So how do you make sure your kids cope well while you’re renovating your house?
Involve Them
Parents know best, but that doesn’t mean kids don’t have an opinion of their own. Involve them in the planning stages as early as possible to give them time to grasp what’s going to happen.
Take them along when you talk to home contractors or while you drive around Salt Lake City to make purchases. Doing this will make them feel as though they’re part of the project. This mindset can encourage them to cope with the changes in your lifestyle with a better attitude.
Once the renovation starts, introduce them to the strangers working in your house. Putting names to the familiar faces they’ll see can give them a better sense of security. After all, it can be a scary experience for children when strangers enter their personal space.
Let Them Make Decisions
It’s better to give them something to look forward to regularly. This is especially important if renovations will take months. Letting them make decisions for their bedrooms, though, can turn into a nightmare if you aren’t cautious.
Trim down every possible decision to three options. This applies to the wall color, bedsheets, rugs, desks, lamps, and other new things they’ll have in their rooms. Take them with you to the mall after school or do some online shopping while dining out. It’s also a great way to lessen their exposure to dust and allergens that fill the air during construction.
Allowing them to make their own decisions at a young age builds their confidence. Use this as a time to bond and get to know them better.
Establish a Routine
The trick to starting a new routine is consistency, even if the situation isn’t ideal. Breaking your old one without establishing something new can stress your children and result in depression and tantrums.
Try to regain a sense of normalcy in your home by eating meals together at the same hour every day. If that’s not possible for all three meals, commit to at least one. Set designated places for keys, clothes, shoes, and other daily essentials early. It’s not a good idea to wait until you start losing things before you get organized in the temporary setup of your house.
If your bedrooms are part of the renovation, set up your new sleeping quarters where there are fewer chances of needing to transfer soon. Consistency in the time you do things and where you do them will do wonders for your children.
Parenthood is hard in itself. Throw in such a huge disruption like home renovation, and you’re bound to incur more stress than usual. Forgive yourself for the times you lose your cool or forget your children’s homework. There’s always time to do better and a new chance every day to make this experience work for the entire family.