gentle moving suggestions

Hi. We have recently repatriated. It is great to be back home but our just-three-year-old is pining for her "home" and room and friends and really sees HK as her home. We have been back five weeks and it aint getting any better. Any "lies" I could tell? "This is your new home and we are not going back to the old one" seems a bit harsh. As she is three her language/comprehensiun isnt the best. Please help. All advice greatly appreciated.

We have recently been through it in the opposite direction, with our then 3 and a half year old. We started the children in nursery and playgroups right away, so that they had 'instant friends'. I guess that is a bit more difficult for you, given the toime of year with so many schoold closed, but you could find a local playcentre and go there at the same time regularly.


Another trick we have used is bribery. We kept bringing them to fun places like Ocean Park, HK Disneyland etc. so that HK seemed like one long holiday (have started doing it again so that we have a carrot for when we return to HK after the summer). Don't know where you live, but if you're in London, for example, there's Legoland etc.


We involved our daughter in decorating her 'new' room, so that she could buy into it and get excited about the details (we had essentially chosen her other one as we decorated when she was a baby).


In your case, you have your family and friends (and their children) on your doorstep. Could you do a small 'I'm home' children's party for her to make her feel like the centre of the world? A new toy never goes astray either. Good luck! She'll soon have forgotten all about HK!