We live in a great area with kids in preschool and 1st grade but are looking for a bigger house. We cant seem to find one in our district and i really wanted to stay within it. My kids havent made any serious friends, just the usual. And i know a lot of the moms but only from seeing them at school. However, ive been really torn about moving. We have found a few houses in another district that are hard to pass up, and they have very good schools too. But i get really sad thinking about moving there, even though the houses are very nice and bigger, etc. Its not far from where we are, but it is a different district. Am i being crazy? I do tend to get attached to my routine and familiarity. What would you do?
To answer some of your questions...Yes, kinda need to move, have outgrown our house, on a busier street than i'd like, could use the space. My first grader is fine with the idea when ive talked to him about it. I think im more attached to everything than he is. Im a creature of habbit and dont like change too much!
If I were you, I would move now. Sounds like you'll be moving out of that house regardless so do it sooner rather than later when they have stronger friendships.
The kids will adjust - especialy at their ages.
As long as its still a good school district, I would move. Especially when the kids are younger, I think its easier than when they are older and have more established friendships and are more settled in school. Good luck!
it would depend on the person. me, i'm not a "bigger and better, onward and upward" kind of person. we have one child and are happy. no plans to expand. if something happened, yes, we would truly need the room since we are renting a small 2 bedroom duplex, with little-to-no storage space. but just for the sake of having more room, no. i'm very low-key, less-muss. if it's just to keep up with the joneses, then no. if you truly, honestly, NEED the space, then maybe it's something you should think about. but always remember, there are many who are happy with much less than you have. so look at it objectively and try to make a rational decision based on facts. good luck!
Move!! The time to do it is now. If you wait a couple years it will be your KIDS who are sentimental about not moving and then you will have a real problem. I kick myself all of the time for not moving when they were little when it wouldn't of mattered to them. Now I am stuck :-(
Your kids are young enough that if you are going to make a move like that, now is the time. They will adjust easily now. Once they get in like 4th grade and older, it would be harder for them. I say go for it.
Yes. We moved back to Houston when my daughter was starting her Junior year in HS! Yeah, we did not get the parent of the year award for that one! But when your job moves, you move.
Your kids are young and if the school district is great then why not?
If I wanted the bigger house and had few close personal relationships in the current area and the schools were equal or better, I would move.
Your kids are very young. If you want a bigger house and it's in a good school district, I'd say now WOULD be the time to move, NOT in a few years when the kids HAVE made close friends and you're growing out of your current house and you NEED to move to a bigger place. You'll get attached to your new routine and surroundings quickly, don't worry.
We did that very thing you are thinking about. We only moved 5 minutes away, but to a different district. My kids were in going in to 5th and 8th grades at the time. Overall, it has been a good move for us, but our kids still hate us for it. They really did lose all their friends. I mean, I know you can drive your kids over for a play date, or invite friends over, but if you don't see them everyday, it is kind of out of sight out of mind kind of thinking. I feel like our kids did suffer, but we had no idea it would be that way. And I miss my old friends in the neighborhood too. Life just isn't the same. BUT, if your kids have not made any serious friends yet, and they really still are young, I would do it. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it again!! Our quality of life is much better here, and the schools are too. I just have had to work extra hard to help them with new friends and taking them places, but I feel it is only because they are older. It is hard to make friends when you are older and there is peer pressure. Good luck with whatever you decide!
If you are ever going to move, move now. I show my kids pictures of 1st grade and they don't really remember it. I moved a lot when I was little and it's no fun being the shy new kid. So better make sure not only the elementary is good but the middle school and high school also. I moved once while my kids were in school but waited till I found a house in the same schools to do it. Good Luck!
If you were ever going to move, this would be the time. Your children are at the beginning of their school years..
You said it yourself........"I do tend to get attached to my routine and familiarity". You are getting wrapped up in the now and your routine and the adult stuff in your head. I'm sure your family wouldn't take it as hard and would enjoy a bigger house and would make friends easily. Besides, you too would adapt to your new surroundings in no time.
I live in your same area and recently made the decision to put my son in a school in the area we plan to move to within the next 5 years (a private school in Naperville.)
I know very few people there, but every day at pick up I am meeting other new parents. (My son is in Kindergarten). Since you have a preschooler, when that child starts Kindergarten you'll have many new families to fit in with.
My son went to 1 school for his 2 years of preschool, and for the first couple of weeks he kept asking about his old classmates, but now he has made new friends and is totally comfortable in the new setting.
I have actually made it a point to get to know the Naperville area--I have started doing my errands in that area, after I drop him off at school. I take my younger kids to the Riverwalk, found grocery stores, banks, the libraries, parks, the YMCA, etc that will become out regular local places once we finally move to that area.
id do it, especially if it has room for your family to grow and the district is good and the price is right
It's so much easier to move when the kids are younger. YOU will be able to make friends easier when your kids are young, too. More opportunities to interact with other parents in your area. It's harder to do when the kids are older and the parents aren't around as much.
Your little ones might resist, but they don't see the positives to change at that age. Little ones make friends so quickly. They will be happy in their new school in no time.
If you will be moving to a nearby area, you will be able to keep up with the friends you have now.
This is such a great time to buy real estate. Go for it!!!!
Move now or it's going to be never. You're kids are plenty young enough now. We've never been sure where to move to so we didn't and now our oldest is 3rd grade and I know it's getting to late for it to be easy. If I'd had a good plan before, we'd have done it and been all set. Go for,it now or accept its just going to be way harder on the kids later.
Our house is small, but we live in a great neighbourhood, easy walking distance form the elementary, middle and high school, and we have the best neighbours you can get, so no, I won't be moving for a bigger house. We made it through the difficult baby years when the kids had so many big toys, excersaucers, swings, jolly jumpers, high chairs etc, I figure we can manage another decade. The house was big enough for us before we had the kids, and before we know it the kids will be gone...
Do it now while they're so young!
:)
Yes, I would, but I would also stay in a small house just to have a better district. Unfortunately, right now, we're in a small house in a not great district (although our particular school is excellent in the district).
Me, personally, no.
I adore our little house. I also love the school my son goes to.
That said, every family is different. If you are really feeling the need for space, I'd check out what goes on in those potential new neighborhoods. Drive by and walk through-- a lot. Get out and talk to those possible new neighbors and ask them their experience of the neighborhood and the schools, etc. I don't think you are crazy -- you are wanting to do what's best for your family. I do agree that doing it when the kids are younger and don't have such established friendships (third grade is when it really intensifies-- friendships, that is), that is preferable to moving later when their social lives are more established.
I agree with some of the other who say it's easier to do when they are younger and not deeply rooted in their friends and activiities. I suggest you check out this website to see how your school district compares to other you may wish to move into, http://iirc.niu.edu
Once you've narrowed down your choices based on houses and education check into what programs are offered at the middle and high school. I wish I had done that. Some schools offer so much more in the way of extra-curriculars that can really make a difference. AND I'm not just talking about sports - the music and art departments, design, computers. Really take some time to think about the opportunities that may be afforded your students as they grow.
While I agree that your kids are young enough and will handle the move much better now than as they get older - I just have to say....why a bigger house? I live in big house and it drives me crazy. There is just so much more to clean, so much more room for junk to spread and when my kids and grown and off on their own I don't know what I will do rattling around around in this big huge thing. I'll have to look into renting rooms to the college kids or something. And then your heating/cooling bills are much higher as well as things like painting the house and general upkeep! I feel like my kids are too old to think about moving now (and we do live in a nice neighborhood) but oh, if I had to do it over again I would find a cute cozy, little house.
I'd probably move. I'm in a similar situation...one more year until kindergarten, 2 bedroom house, exemplary school and need a bit more space...and seriously considering moving. I know if I don't do it now, I am probably committing to staying put until middle school years. What holds me back is that my location is excellent with lots of good friends in the neighborhood. Plus, I can afford my current house regardless of what happens with my job, and I worry about the unknown (as a single parent) if I take on a bigger mortgage. Plus, I've been in my house over a decade which means over a decade's worth of stuff to sort through and move...ugh. If it weren't for that, I'd so be moving in the next year, and I still am looking around....
It depends. We chose to stay put and remodel our house, twice. We added a bonus room above the garage that we use as an office and re-configured the laundry room and mud room to make them much more functional. Then we finished part of the basement to give our now teenagers space to hang out with friends and have sleepovers. Is that an option for you?
Our school district is large and supposedly (according to some website! LOL!!) #1 in our state...
If I can get a bigger house in a better district, yes. I would move.
If the bigger house is in the same district but different school track that is not as good as mine? Nope. Won't change.
You can get a routine at the new place - as well as familiarity - so what is stopping you? Sounds like you have found bigger houses with VERY GOOD SCHOOLS and you are making excuses to NOT do it...
Figure out why you are making the excuses and what your priority is and go from there...
As I said - for me - if the house is bigger (let me add my caveat - and we can afford the house without strapping ourselves down) and in a better school track - I would move. NO questions asked.
No, this is a huge decision!
I would ask your 1st grader how he/she feels about moving. Kicking and screaming, that would be really hard, but if they are for it, I would do it!
I'm to the point in my life where I am very much against moving. We have done all of the major repairs on our house and I know what I have. I really don't feel like starting over again. Plus the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
(Although I admit that I have contemplated renting my grandfather's house to establish residency in another school district..but I still wouldn't physically move because that district could have the same 'warts' or a whole another set of 'warts'.)
at that age, yes I would. In a few years when they are both in school or the older one is in a higher grade, no.
We have property out in the country and the school out there is a rather secluded one. It's not a bad school, just has their own schedule that doesn't really go along with the big town school calendar. It is also a small country school sort of place. They have a lot of kids but it's just way more relaxed to me. It is Pre-K through 6th grade.
The school in town the kids go to now is awesome. They are either the top school in the district or the second for test scores. They have the teachers that always seem to win the awards for excellence too.
Hubby and I have always agreed that if we have to move to the farm that one of us will bring the kids in to this school until they are able to go to Jr High. I think it would be worth the drive and expense to do this. The farm is 14 miles from our house to theirs. The kids school is about a mile from us so it would be about 2 gallons of gas each way to take the kids to school then another 2 gallons to pick them up.
When we are house sitting and are bringing the kids in we stay in town at our house during the day so that we don't use as much gasoline. I just pray that my FIL continues to have good health until the kids are older.
I think if you are extremely happy with the area the kids are in then that has some serious weight to it to stay in your area.
BUT moving now would make sure the kids are able to make those lifelong friendships that start out early in the school experience. They will make new friends in either area too though.
If I found "The" house there would be no compromise. The move would happen. Housing is down now and it won't stay there forever. The home you buy would explode in value at some point in the future. The house you are in now won't sell for what it's worth of course but the one you would be buying would be a great price.
Is the bigger house a "want" or a necessity? I probably wouldn't move my kid for a bigger house, but it depends on your situation, I guess.
So, do you "need" to move?
