High school students experience the greatest trauma in a move, she said. They miss their friends at the old school and worry about rules at their new school, including whether they'll be allowed to drive to school or leave campus at lunchtime. Judy Johns, broker associate at The Prudential Summerson-Burrows, Realtors, said that a Realtor's demands don't make the impending move any more palatable. You have to pick up your clothes. It's a hard time for teen-agers regardless, and all of a sudden they're dealing with this,'' she said.
Parents allow their children's worries to compound their own.
Elsea said her burden is lightened by help from her husband, Jerry, and her parents, Andy and Mary Ellen Blaida. Though it's best for sellers to be absent when buyers look at the house, most buyers are understanding when they visit a family with small children, especially at nap time. The Elsea children go to bed at 7 p.m., regardless of visits from home buyers. Besides keeping the children to their routine, Elsea ties to preserve their world as much as possible. Their possessions are not among the items that Kitty and Jerry have already boxed and stored for the move.