Moving from Noida to Hyderabad in December. How do I tell my 9 year old?

lilac_compass_26873 Sept 2026

My company is opening an office in Kondapur and I'm moving with it in December. My son has been in the same school, same building, same group of friends since he was 4. We haven't told him yet. My partner thinks we should wait till after his half-yearlies so it doesn't affect his exams. I think he'll pick it up from our phone calls anyway and it's better he hears it from us. For those who moved cities mid-year with a child this age, when did you tell them, and what helped them get through the last few weeks?

3 comments

ochre_window_69353 Sept 2026
We moved my son across the country when he was about that age, a long time ago now. We told him early and I'm glad we did. Children hear everything, and a secret makes it feel like bad news. What helped him was having something concrete to look forward to. We showed him photos of the new place and let him choose the colour for his room. A small thing, but it was his.
quiet_compass_5393 Sept 2026
tell him before the exams. kids that age pick up on stress in the house anyway and then make up their own story keep one thing the same through the move if you can. same bedtime routine, same saturday thing. it helps more than people expect
cinnamon_pigeon_68573 Sept 2026
I can only speak as the child here, not as a parent. My father had a transferable job and I changed schools in class 5, in the middle of the year. My parents told me about a month before. What I remember is not the timing but the feeling that I hadn't been asked anything. If you can give him a few real choices in the move, I think that matters more than the exact week you tell him.
- dusk_balcony_16413 Sept 2026
  Same experience as a child. My father's transfer when I was 10. What helped me most was my mother getting my best friend's address and a stack of inland letters before we left. I wrote for almost two years. Now it would be a video call, but the idea is the same.