Homesickness

A strange thing about being a child is the ease with which one becomes homesick. As adults, we tend to have to go away more often, and generally have made the biggest voyage anyone ever makes – leaving home to live somewhere else. But when all that you have really known is the place where you live, homesickness can strike even when you are among your family, just because you are miles away from home.

Dealing with homesickness is not easy for anyone. It is one thing which cannot be instantly cured, because there is one known cure for it – returning home – and that takes time even if the return is embarked upon immediately. Telling your child that they will be home soon does not make it easier – in fact it can feel like a taunt, putting what they most covet in front of them and then not delivering it.

The only thing that really pushes homesickness away is time. The best way to make that time pass is to give the child something to enjoy. An activity to keep their mind occupied, however silly it may seem at the time, will do wonders. The most bizarre thing of all is that, when the time comes to go home, your child may well begin to wish they could stay longer. Who would be a kid?