Congratulations on the house! I'm excited for you all, especially with being closer to things/people/work. I never imagined what a game changer it would be to have a shorter commute for my husband (thankfully it was never bad as an hour, but it went from being 30-45 min each way to only about 15-20 min each way when we bought our house)--less time in the car for him, more time as a family with him at home, has been so good! I hope that everything goes well with the packing and moving and houseclosing for you all, and that this is a really good change for your family.
THANK YOU for your comment on the 18 summers thing! As someone with only young kids, it's been super unhelpful and rather discouraging to hear many parents of teens sadly talk about how they're already counting how many more spring breaks, summers, etc. they'll have "before they move out." I get that people get sad to see their kids grow up and move out, and I'll probably have sad moments too, but it just seems silly to live under the assumption that you get to have your kids for 18 summers and then you never get to have quality time with them ever again. I actually heard a mom of teens and adults give a talk at a conference last weekend and I e-mailed her afterwards thanking her for such an upbeat presentation, because she focused a lot on how much she loves spending time with her teen and adult children. It was really cool to hear someone talk about that.
Yeah, I find that the whole 18 summers attitude really fuels my unhealthy anxiety I have about my kids growing up that I already battle enough just with my own mind running away with me. I think part of valuing community and building community has to translate to our children. We have to combat the very American idea that every child has to go to some crazy elite college as soon as they graduate high school, and then they have to move thousands of miles away because having a good job is the most important thing in life! If we’re living as if that’s true in our families then we will only have 18 summers because this weird elitist ladder of job/money always coming first requires you be separated from your family and community as soon as you graduate high school. Community grows best when there is extended family ties nearby, and I know the world we live in does not make this easy or possible, but we can encourage it as much as we can! I live next door to my parents, my younger siblings don’t live too far away and frequently visit home and still travel with my parents. It didn’t all end when we turned 18!
Thanks so much for the kind words, Christy. And congratulations on the new house! That process is so stressful, but I'm excited for you to have more space and be able to settle into a home that works for your family. That's huge!
Thanks Annelise! It’s just a small move only an hour and a half away! I honestly think I wouldn’t make it if I had to move half a country away, just from a packing perspective. Haha, but that being said we’re just moving ourselves so maybe this is worse??
We moved ourselves across the country and I still can’t decide if it was a good move (ha! pun intended). It’s so much work. So so so much work. We roped a few siblings into helping us and I still sort of wanted to die 😂
Congratulations on the house! And I loved Twisters, too! Watched it the other week and it was a blast! Reminded me of National Treasure and the OG Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Haha, yes it was reminiscent of just those fun movies that are there just to entertain! I also appreciated that my younger kids to go and there wasn’t mounds of objectionable content we had to talk about afterwards!
Congratulations on the house! I'm excited for you all, especially with being closer to things/people/work. I never imagined what a game changer it would be to have a shorter commute for my husband (thankfully it was never bad as an hour, but it went from being 30-45 min each way to only about 15-20 min each way when we bought our house)--less time in the car for him, more time as a family with him at home, has been so good! I hope that everything goes well with the packing and moving and houseclosing for you all, and that this is a really good change for your family.
THANK YOU for your comment on the 18 summers thing! As someone with only young kids, it's been super unhelpful and rather discouraging to hear many parents of teens sadly talk about how they're already counting how many more spring breaks, summers, etc. they'll have "before they move out." I get that people get sad to see their kids grow up and move out, and I'll probably have sad moments too, but it just seems silly to live under the assumption that you get to have your kids for 18 summers and then you never get to have quality time with them ever again. I actually heard a mom of teens and adults give a talk at a conference last weekend and I e-mailed her afterwards thanking her for such an upbeat presentation, because she focused a lot on how much she loves spending time with her teen and adult children. It was really cool to hear someone talk about that.
Thank you, AnneMarie!
Yeah, I find that the whole 18 summers attitude really fuels my unhealthy anxiety I have about my kids growing up that I already battle enough just with my own mind running away with me. I think part of valuing community and building community has to translate to our children. We have to combat the very American idea that every child has to go to some crazy elite college as soon as they graduate high school, and then they have to move thousands of miles away because having a good job is the most important thing in life! If we’re living as if that’s true in our families then we will only have 18 summers because this weird elitist ladder of job/money always coming first requires you be separated from your family and community as soon as you graduate high school. Community grows best when there is extended family ties nearby, and I know the world we live in does not make this easy or possible, but we can encourage it as much as we can! I live next door to my parents, my younger siblings don’t live too far away and frequently visit home and still travel with my parents. It didn’t all end when we turned 18!
Thanks so much for the kind words, Christy. And congratulations on the new house! That process is so stressful, but I'm excited for you to have more space and be able to settle into a home that works for your family. That's huge!
Thanks Annelise! It’s just a small move only an hour and a half away! I honestly think I wouldn’t make it if I had to move half a country away, just from a packing perspective. Haha, but that being said we’re just moving ourselves so maybe this is worse??
We moved ourselves across the country and I still can’t decide if it was a good move (ha! pun intended). It’s so much work. So so so much work. We roped a few siblings into helping us and I still sort of wanted to die 😂
Omg you are truly a hero. Seriously I think I would just lie down and die. Dramatically. Marianne Dashwood style.
Oh believe me. I thought about it quite often 😂😂😂 And may have done some dramatic flopping.
Congratulations on the house! And I loved Twisters, too! Watched it the other week and it was a blast! Reminded me of National Treasure and the OG Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Haha, yes it was reminiscent of just those fun movies that are there just to entertain! I also appreciated that my younger kids to go and there wasn’t mounds of objectionable content we had to talk about afterwards!