Home in WA - The Magic Coat
In this episode of Home in WA, host Jon Williams sits down with Di Wilcox, founder of The Magic Coat, an organisation dedicated to the emotional well-being of children. They discuss how to help children deal with the stress of moving homes and about Di’s upcoming book on the topic.
Catch Home in WA every weekend on Channel 7, where we provide property market insights you can use, and take you on tours of some of the most gorgeous properties in all of WA.
Interview with Di Wilcox, author of The Magic Coat
Moving homes is known to be one of the most stressful times in our lives. The upheaval of having to pack up our personal belongings, disrupt our comfort zones, and transition into what is quite often an unknown setting can be a real struggle.
When we talk about these stressful times, we generally think about how the adults in the family deal with this transition. But little thought is given to how our children navigate such a traumatic experience. To find out more, host Jon Williams caught up with Di Wilcox, author and the founder of The Magic Coat, an organisation set up to help children manage their emotions.
Jon Williams: Di, how hard is it for children to navigate their emotions when they're moving home?
Di Wilcox: So Jon, we quite often think moving house is one of the most stressful events an adult can possibly go through. But what we forget is that children actually have no control over this decision to move house. So for them, it can create a lot of anxiety. There's the sadness of leaving all the things they know behind. There's that sense of ‘Oh, my goodness, what's coming up? What's about to happen? Where am I going?’ And so it's really important that parents are aware of preparing their children for this move so that their social and emotional well-being is taken care of.
Jon Williams: Now tell us about the book that you're currently writing about the subject.
Di Wilcox: I'm really grateful that The Agency is sponsoring this book. It'll be an adaptation of The Magic Coat book. And it will contain simple and effective strategies that parents and children can both use when they're moving house - allowing parents to have this conversation in a simplistic way that children can understand so they can prepare for the big move.
What a wonderful initiative, and a fantastic resource that will soon be available for families navigating a big move. So keep an eye out for this special edition Magic Coat book. To find out more about the amazing work Di and her team are doing, go to themagiccoat.com