Within an eight-week time span, we began packing, put our house on the market, found a house we liked, got under contract with one buyer, lost that buyer, bought our new house, found a new buyer and sold our old house. Does that give you a headache?
Add onto that that my baby was celebrating his first birthday and birthday party on top of my twins going to kindergarten at a school I never thought they would go to – that was my summer from you-know-where of sorts.
The whole reason our family moved was because my husband and I recognized we wanted to give our children the best education possible without going bankrupt.
It’s unfortunate that many private schools cost so much, especially when you have multiples going to the same school. My twins had a great private preschool education, and we were lucky that they were accepted to the same private school for kindergarten. But after not receiving any tuition assistance for their education, my husband and I realized that it would financially make more sense to pack up everything in our home of almost 10 years and move to where the public education system was better than where we currently were.
Had you asked me a year prior if we would be moving, I would have laughed. Why would we move? We loved our house – a ranch with four bedrooms and two baths. It was perfect for our family of five plus two dogs. But recognizing that we couldn’t afford all our bills and full tuition for two kids in private school was a tough pill to swallow.
Then, we just jumped in. I went to a store one day after work, grabbed some large tubs, and began packing up our family room. I couldn’t believe it myself – were we really moving? We hadn’t celebrated the “lasts” of anything in this house. Could we really do this knowing that we had so much to accomplish in such a short time? We financially couldn’t afford two mortgages and while the housing market was hot, would anyone really want our house?
It all seems like a blur now looking back at the move more than a year later. Everything happened the way it was supposed to, I guess, but that doesn’t make me long for the days that we were back at our “old” house.
If you are considering moving, weigh the potential positives and negatives of the change for you and your family. Because our children’s education was most important to us, my husband and I were willing to let go of a house we loved to be in a city we didn’t know but felt like the school system was better.
I continuously remind myself that a house is a house, simply within itself. However, it’s the memories and the people you share it with is what makes it home. I know there will be plenty of more memories to come in our new house, and sooner than later, it will feel like home sweet home.
