For Children, “Home” means Feeling Secure

June 29th, 2008 by Marian Bennett
Categories: Living Here

When you think about “lifestyle”, do you also think of security? Or is that something you take for granted? It is woven into the services we provide for our clients. You don’t have security when you rent…you already know your home is not yours.

“Since home in a lot of ways means security for us, taking that away can be highly stressful for people”, according to San Mateo County area Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, Padma Ali, “mainly children. They are not equipped to handle family stress surrounding a foreclosure. Parents can play an important role in lessening the impact of losing their home.”

As a parent, sometimes our own stress can take attention away from our children and we may miss important signs from them. Padma offers these tips and suggestions if you or someone you know may be facing a move due to financial stress:

Children express stress in different ways. Some signs for parents to note…

Acting out at home or in school.
If your child is beginning to withdraw socially at home or school.
Grades dropping.

A few ways to help are…

Talk to your child. Don’t underestimate their intelligence to comprehend complex situations. They will do better if they are kept in the loop. Keep their age in consideration while talking to them about complex issues such as finances.
Reassure them that they are taken care of and that they don’t need to worry about money or their safety.
Get them help with school counselors or therapists to help them cope with the changes.

Our communities here on the San Mateo County Coastside are not seeing similar levels of foreclosure activity that is occurring in other parts of California and the Country. However, our area is certainly not immune to homeowners facing financial challenges, and we are seeing some short sales and REO sales. In my experience, I find children want to know that their family will still be together, even if they have to move – for whatever reason.

Foreclosures take an emotional toll on many homeowners – USA Today

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 29th, 2008 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Living Here. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

For Children, “Home” means Feeling Secure · Real-Estate101.ExplainedOnline.Net said at June 29th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
[...] Original post by Marian Bennett’s introduction to real estate on the San Mateo Coast [...]
For Children, “Home” means Feeling Secure · Real-Estate.ExplainedOnline.Net said at June 29th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
[...] Original post by Marian Bennett’s introduction to real estate on the San Mateo Coast [...]
For Children, “Home” means Feeling Secure · Real-Estate-Investing.ExplainedOnline.Net said at June 29th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
[...] Original post by Marian Bennett’s introduction to real estate on the San Mateo Coast [...]
Gena Riede said at July 1st, 2008 at 6:16 am
Great advice Marian to those going through Short Sales and Foreclosures as well as any issue a family faces within the structure of their lives.

You are a wealth of information for your readers with excellent advice.
Marian Bennett, Coldwell Banker said at July 1st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Thank you Gena…It occurred to me that Padma was a professional resource I could share with people in our area. She has helped me through some stressful times, so I am aware of the quality of her work. You can find her on the web too. We can all benefit from having the best available team around us that we can find!