Relocating A Life

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Just a few short months ago I was living in the desert, blissfully unaware of the summer I was about to have. My husband was working and feeling a little bored at his job. I was working as a piano teacher (20 students a week), a director for my children’s Classical Conversations campus and a homeschool teacher for my 4th and 1st graders. It was a full and busy life and I was feeling the burnout. My husband put his name in for a promotion and he mentioned that one of the possibilities would be about 1500 miles east.

The thrill of opportunity kicked in and I began to daydream about the North Carolina beaches and the Blue Ridge Mountains. We soon found that he had gotten the job and that we had less than a month to relocate our lives. Of all the things that I needed to get done before the move, the thing I worried about most was how to get our beloved pet across the country with the least amount of stress. She ended up flying in the cargo area of the flight we took. Finding ourselves established in our new home was so exciting… at first. Once the day-to-day summer schedule kicked in and my husband started his new job I realized the children and I HAD no schedule. We were on summer break for school. I didn’t have any piano students or campus responsibilities. Our house was a lot smaller and took just an hour or two to clean. Dinner didn’t take as long to cook as it did when I had twenty other things to get done.

What Our Relocation Adventure Taught Me

  1. Changing time zones is particularly hard if you’re a stay at home mom and its summertime. It’s taken me nearly two months to adjust to the two-hour difference. Getting up at eight AM there means getting up at six AM here. Not having any place to be means that some days the children and I were sleeping until after nine. While it was a welcome break from the stress of being busy all the time, I was also mildly worried that I was encouraging slothfulness in their young lives.
  2. The library has been our best friend. Its cool, quiet rows have been a welcome respite from the smothering heat. The friendly faces make us feel less alone and the books we bring home to read and listen to keep the “Mom, we’re BORED” exclamations down 4%.
  3. I still hear “Mom, we’re BORED” at least once a day. I’m slowly learning I don’t need to be afraid of that phrase.
  4. We need a schedule. After a week or two of luxuriating in the lack of responsibility, I decided that responsibility was just what we all needed. I created a loose schedule for the kids and I to follow, fitting in chores, summer learning and playtime. I’ve even scheduled in some time for me to write, which seems like an indulgence all on its own. It helps us all to feel like our lives have order and purpose and less like we are on an extended vacation.
  5. It’s been harder for me than I thought not being able to contribute to our family financially. While I think this is probably a temporary situation, it’s made me realize how much I value that aspect of what I bring to my marriage and family.
  6. It’s okay to be sad. My children miss their Nana and Papa (grandparents). They miss their friends. They miss their life, and sometimes I do too. It’s okay to be sad about it. We have cried, talked it out, and ultimately used FaceTime, Skype and good old-fashioned letters to make us feel more connected.
  7. Good neighbors make all the difference. The week we moved in, the family across the street from us was so welcoming. Their kids immediately included ours. They reminded me of when trash day and recycling day happens on our street and offered to watch our dog if we ever needed them. The welcome they showed us was really meaningful to us all.
  8. Day trips are awesome! We’ve visited the beach, the mountains, a really good fried chicken joint, and some pretty cool rivers and streams. We have explored historical sites and watched a reenactment battle from the Revolutionary War. It’s been worth every gallon of gas used to explore where we’ve been planted.

Spending time together and learning about each other without other distractions has been splendid. Oh, and fried chicken. Fried chicken makes us happy too.

Learning Along the Way

I certainly don’t have a magic formula to guarantee a successful cross-county move, but I think as a family we have cobbled together a list of ways that have helped us grow closer together while learning about what makes us joyful.  Spending time together and learning about each other without other distractions has been splendid. Oh, and fried chicken. Fried chicken makes us happy too.

Any other mamas have wisdom to share from the relocation journey? Please share!

Contributing Author

About {Lisa}

Recently relocated wife and mother of two. Homeschooling mama and piano teacher. Missing the beauty of the desert and loving the leafy green of the east coast.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Lisa!!!! Your story is very similar to mine. We just moved from Texas, where I wrote for the Fort Worth Moms Blog, to Chicago. The change was HUGE, but I’ve been wanting to write about how the move pared everything down to just the four of us. More family time, more time to explore, and get back to the basics. You nailed it! Love your positive attitude and encouraging thoughts! Know that somewhere in Chicago is a mom who is so with you! 🤛🏻