Parenting help: grandparents moving

[Moonlight J]

My kids are lucky enough to have 3 sets of grandparents here in Florida that are all within 2 hours of the house. Unfortunately, my mom & stepdad are now moving to the Charlotte area due to his job and they were the ones that lived closest by so we saw them 3-4 times a month. They're not leaving until the end of the summer but I'm not sure how to bring this up with the kids because I know they won't take this well as a trip to grandma's house is just a step under a trip to Disney for them.

Anyone else go through this? What did you do?

[chancellor]

It won't be fun, but you definitely need to talk it through with them. We did the same in the late 90s due to a job change for me (to Charlotte, interestingly enough). We made sure to carve out time for three visits a year - two by the grandmas to our place, and one back to Wisconsin. If your mom and stepdad aren't techno-peasants, make sure they're set up on Skype and you can video chat with them often, which I think your kids would love.

[Moonlight J]

My mom is a techo-phobe, but does Skype rather well with my brother and his family that lives in Charlotte. At least it is a drivable distance; looks into trains and it would be $560 for our family to go there through Raleigh

[Gregg]

How old are the kids?

[swampdragon]

How old are the kids?

twenty three and twenty one

[Moonlight J]

How old are the kids?

They'll be 6 and 3 when the move happens

[Fresno Bob]

Make sure your grandparents tell them how much they hope they still see them and want to talk to them. This might also encourage your 6 year old to write, as they can send your grandparents letters.

[swampdragon]

Make sure that your kids talk to them on the phone frequently. When the grandparents call kids should drop everything and tell them something (even minor) about something imoportant in their life.
I made that mistake of being too casual about it and now as teenagers it has bitten me in the butt.