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My honest opinion is that you have three more years until your kids are out of high school.
I'd wait until then.
The south is a funny place and high school can be hell.
While your kids will make friends, they will be outsiders because they didn't grow up with the other kids.
Kids are mean.
Can you have a family meeting and discuss it with them?
What do you mean about the south being a funny place?
I'm thinking what is going to happen if we stay here is that they will choose colleges here, then they will be settled here, and if we move THEN, then they will be either staying with other family during their breaks and/or having to drive 7 hours to come home for the weekend, since home won't be in PA anymore.
Also, the issues I'm having with my mother's side of the family make me feel we need more space between us to NOT further harm our relationships.
We are waiting to see if a job opportunity opens up, and if so, we then would like to discuss it with them. It's definitely not up to them, but I'd like to see if we can get them to be open to it.
I read the headline and thought that only the teenagers would be moved to a new place and the rest of the family would stay put. When my kids were teenagers that would have been an interesting idea.
I read the headline and thought that only the teenagers would be moved to a new place and the rest of the family would stay put. When my kids were teenagers that would have been an interesting idea.
Oh yeah, it would be the 4 of us. Nobody in my family ever leaves the area...so that's why I said leaving the rest of the family. All our parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles and so forth.
My oldest is 13 and we have moved every 3 years since he was born. The latest move came when he was starting 6th grade and was by far the hardest ever for him; socially, academically, emotionally. People like to say "kids are resilient, they bounce back" and while that's true to a degree; it isn't without profound struggle. I wouldn't put my kids through that willingly, especially as teenagers. Some kids may be up for the adventure, and want to reinvent themselves. But others, it could have lasting negative effects.
Not to sound offensive but it's your job to teach your children how to deal with life's issues. Moving is one of them.
Looking at the big picture, if your child can't eventually bounce back from a simple move, how is he going to deal with some of the bigger issues in life. Teach the child those skills now while he is young.
Kid will "bounce back" because...everyone has to bounce back at one time or another.
Ifamove akes sense or the overall benefit of the entire family, then move.
Not to sound offensive but it's your job to teach your children how to deal with life's issues. Moving is one of them.
Looking at the big picture, if your child can't eventually bounce back from a simple move, how is he going to deal with some of the bigger issues in life. Teach the child those skills now while he is young.
Kid will "bounce back" because...everyone has to bounce back at one time or another.
Ifamove akes sense or the overall benefit of the entire family, then move.
Not to sound offensive, but did you move every 2-3 years growing up?
How does one "teach" kids to deal with the psychological effects of broken friendships? Say 'just suck it up kid'? Do you know what it is like to move to a new school and know that it almost doesn't matter if you make friends because you are moving soon enough anyway? What is the point of making a great friend when you know you will be gone in two years. You learn pretty quickly it hurts less if you keep everyone at an arms length.
That is one of the many sacrifices that our military families make, especially in the navy when your father is an officer and there is a new ship every 2-3 years.
My honest opinion is that you have three more years until your kids are out of high school.
I'd wait until then.
The south is a funny place and high school can be hell.
While your kids will make friends, they will be outsiders because they didn't grow up with the other kids.
Kids are mean.
Can you have a family meeting and discuss it with them?
I would agree. I moved a 10th grader across the country, and it did NOT go well. She went from being a happy girl, to being terribly depressed. We are almost 3 years out from the move, and things have not improved.
You've waited this long, wait another 3 years. I dearly regret uprooting my kids.
We've moved every few years basically because of employment. My kids have done pretty well and have made great friends every place we have lived. For us, the key has been to find other people like us. There are a lot of people do move a lot for jobs. We're the ones looking to make new friends and learn about the area. The locals usually have their social group in place and aren't looking for new ones although I have made friends with a few of them also. Have the kids find something they are interested in and get them involved. For my oldest, it was band. I find the loneliest kids are the ones without any outside interests or activities. You have to physically leave your house if you want to meet new people.
I am a military brat and we moved all the time.. I was in a new school for every grade until High School... The kids will moan and groan at first but then will start to get into where you move... Pretty soon you would think they lived there all their lives...
What do you mean about the south being a funny place?
.
While very welcoming and friendly, the South in general is a very closed and cliquish place.
So while your neighbors will wave to you and say hi, it will take a while, sometimes years to be invited into their homes.
There are exceptions to this but they aren't the rule.
As for your kids, they will have a really hard time adjusting.
I know someone will come along and say they had the opposite happen and their kids are Rhodes Scholars and Captain of the football and cheer teams but this really will not happen for your kids.
Especially small southern towns that people don't move in and out of, these kids have been together since kindergarten and sometimes longer. They have their friends.
As also a military brat the eldest of three we kids did just fine and looked at it as an adventure and got to see interesting places.Not sure what IT jobs are available where you plan to go.Here in Texas in the San Antonio area there is Rackspace which does webhosting they have a website of course.Plus NSA and the Us Military is here as well as USAA the insurance company.Plus up the road is Austin with Dell and various other IT companies. There is a lot to do in and around the San Antonio-Austin area for you and the kids. There are various colleges and universities as well they can attend later on if they choose to.There are also several technical schools here as well. Most people around here are friendly at least the natives are.
A lot of sports too for kids like soccer,,,,basketball,,,,football etc.
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