So, my husband asked me today.....

[cjbeach]

Oh I could tell you stories...

We moved down "for just a year" EIGHT years ago.

For the most part, I'm really happy here... low cost of living, sunshine, found great tennis and golf coaches, found a true blue NYer to teach piano to the kids, but I am a show person - I could go to shows/opera/ballet every night of the week if I had the time and money to do so.

I'm all about a doorman kwim?

But.. the kids are being raised so differently than we were. They really have a great life here. And I do NOT miss driving in the snow. I do not miss frigid temps. I do miss Fall with every piece of me. And the food. OMG do I miss the food. But I think all of us would suffer some type of Seasonal Affective Disorder if/when we ever move back home. We would miss the sunshine terribly.

Every year we went home I hated to leave. But this year... I don't know... maybe it's city crime, the city dirtiness, the cold, DEFINITELY the gray skies, but it wasn't hard to leave this time. It was great to VISIT but over and over I kept thinking "Do I want to raise my kids in this rat race? In this TRAFFIC?" Conversely, I get a little tweaked out thinking "Ok, so I can do school here. But what'll happen when they graduate? There's no jobs here!" My hubby was a Wall Streeter and that pretty much paved the way for the rest of career. It was an amazing opportunity! We're just not finding that level of ______(whatever it is) here.

[Runningmom80]

We are in a similar position. We moved back to Ohio 5 years ago when I was pregnant with DS #1. We had been living in San francisco, where the cost of living is also high. Not as high as NYC, but it's up there.

 

 

We knew when we were moving back we were making a mistake. 5 years, and a set of twins later, we are out of here. We HATE the weather. There isn't much to do here either.

 

 

Not sure where we will end up, I'd like a slow pace of living for my kids, dh and I adore city life, we would move to NYC in a second if we had the means, and no kids.

 

 

We will probably end up in a beach town. We vacationed in seaside, fl this spring, I would love to live there!

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay,so.....

 

I told him "so I guess we'll be staying in Florida for now, then..." :)

 

I would never give up homeschooling unless I absolutely had to, or my kids were old enough to voice valid, reasoned opinions in favor of going to public school.

Oh, yeah, based on the ages of your kids, I would have said Florida too.

 

A few years ago and kidless we chose to move back home (to the midwest). I don't think it was a good decision. We should have stayed down south.

[Once]

Okay,so.....

 

I told him "so I guess we'll be staying in Florida for now, then..." :)

 

I would never give up homeschooling unless I absolutely had to, or my kids were old enough to voice valid, reasoned opinions in favor of going to public school.

 

 

I wouldn't give up homeschooling for NYC either but I would give up a day of homeschooling for a Boar's Head deli sandwich and one of those pickles...... without a second thought!!

:drool5:

[Halcyon]

Oh I could tell you stories...

We moved down "for just a year" EIGHT years ago.

For the most part, I'm really happy here... low cost of living, sunshine, found great tennis and golf coaches, found a true blue NYer to teach piano to the kids, but I am a show person - I could go to shows/opera/ballet every night of the week if I had the time and money to do so.

I'm all about a doorman kwim?

But.. the kids are being raised so differently than we were. They really have a great life here. And I do NOT miss driving in the snow. I do not miss frigid temps. I do miss Fall with every piece of me. And the food. OMG do I miss the food. But I think all of us would suffer some type of Seasonal Affective Disorder if/when we ever move back home. We would miss the sunshine terribly.

Every year we went home I hated to leave. But this year... I don't know... maybe it's city crime, the city dirtiness, the cold, DEFINITELY the gray skies, but it wasn't hard to leave this time. It was great to VISIT but over and over I kept thinking "Do I want to raise my kids in this rat race? In this TRAFFIC?" Conversely, I get a little tweaked out thinking "Ok, so I can do school here. But what'll happen when they graduate? There's no jobs here!" My hubby was a Wall Streeter and that pretty much paved the way for the rest of career. It was an amazing opportunity! We're just not finding that level of ______(whatever it is) here.

 

I hear you. Where do you live now?

 

My big concern is the lack of exposure to diversity/museums (and I don't mean once a year, I mean the kind of exposure where your kids know where the Manets are)....the homeschooled teens in NYC were/are AMAZING: accomplished, self-motivated, intelligent. I am not finding that with the older kids here in Fl, which makes me nervous about hs-ing my kids as teens here.

 

We too have found a great tennis coach ;)

[Halcyon]

I'm all about a doorman kwim?

 

:iagree::iagree:

[redsquirrel]

You know, the choice doesn't have to be florida or NYC. You could move any number of places and be much closer to NYC. I live 4 hours from the city. I can take bus to the city and stay with friends for a weekend. I can walk down the street from my house and get a real bagel and a decent cup of coffee.

[chiguirre]

:iagree:

 

I'll even recommend South Jersey. You can get to NYC on SEPTA/PATH for cheap, the hsing laws are awesome and Philadelphia has a lot of good museums and urban amenities without paying the NYC premium. You can even go to the shore all summer.

 

Of course, I really like S FL. I don't think I'd trade in Houston, but Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are very nice to visit.

[zaichiki]

Yep, it is a GRAND PLACE TO VISIT! But you don't have to live there.

 

That's how I feel about Florida -- the hot summers, the insects ALL over the place (including the palmetto bugs in the house), the snakes, the gators, the "snowbirds," the distance from everything, the tourist season... Give me NYC any day! (But let me have my vacations in Florida!)

[Spy Car]

Okay,so.....

 

I told him "so I guess we'll be staying in Florida for now, then..." :)

 

I would never give up homeschooling unless I absolutely had to, or my kids were old enough to voice valid, reasoned opinions in favor of going to public school.

 

No, New York is where I'd rather stay,

*I* get allergic smelling hay,

I just adore a penthouse view,

Darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue :D

 

Bill

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Have you considered an in between place? Like DC?:D I mean right in DC? There are actually some affordable places in DC proper where on could homeschool depending on you situation. DC has tons of museums and it has train to NYC I believe:D

[cjbeach]

I was thinking of this today, and thought of you.

 

There is a sense of appreciating nature here in FL that I never had growing up. Outside of squirrels and pigeons, I only saw wildlife at the zoo. Whereas my kids, growing up in this "Salt Life" lifestyle, know and appreciate the natural world. It's pretty amazing really. We lived on a lake and they spent so much time fishing and identifying fish species, feeding turtles, feeding a friendly heron (!!), identifying the various birds, and the occasional otter. A favorite activity was to spot "Sammy" our frequent softshell turtle visitor, as he swam by our dock. We have hawks and falcons flying about us. My 10 yo totally got into butterflies in April and we spent a few months slowing building a planter butterfly garden. OMG the excitement that occurred in my house the day our first butterfly emerged from the milkweed was so enthusiastic that we have pics and video.

 

We're not on a lake right now but in the past 3 months we've rescued a baby squirrel and a baby possum which we drove to the nearest wildlife rehab. Today my kids caught a box turtle and hubby just built it a cage. We go to Blue SPrings Park in winter and have manatees rolls right under the dock we're standing on. We go fishing on the Intracoastal and watch the porpoises play. We love our walks on the beach at night to collect shells and find the occasional starfish or sand dollar. We know up close what a baby stingray looks like and we know now if you see a bunch of birds going after baitfish in the water... get out and look for a dorsal fin (spinner sharks are all over here). We've also watched the release of loggerhead turtles and brown pelicans all back to the sea.

 

Next year we hope to get some kayaks as well!

 

A few years ago I was really down in the dumps, missing the culture of city life. My low low low times are Fall. When I'm sweating here and it's Fall there, I'm beside myself. Thanksgiving, with the family and the parades (!!!) back home, just drives me over the edge. But then somehow I discovered the blog LaPaz Home Learning. At the time the family had just relocated to the Keys and wow... that was a lightbulb moment for me. Talk about a Montessori or Charlotte Mason environment... these kids were living it everyday! The family is so hands-on and they had just had a plethora of Nature Study around them. That was a turning point for me really. There are so many opportunities to really explore nature here, it's such a learning opportunity (this coming from someone who likes her every 5 week hair and standing nail appointments).

 

So I try to weigh this a lot in my brain: go for the ratrace city life or go for the laid back Salt Life? Here I miss the culture and the lack of racism, there I would miss the abundance of nature. I keep telling my husband I want a balance of the two but nature is free, my love of shows - not so much (i.e. I just checked the ticket prices to see Daniel Radcliffe in "How to succeed in busines.... um, YIKES).

 

I guess our kids are lucky because maybe we'll be able to give them the blend of both. ;)

Edited July 3, 2011 by cjbeach
sorry- still not used to an ipad

[zaichiki]

I was thinking of this today, and thought of you.

 

There is a sense of appreciating nature here in FL that I never had growing up. Outside of squirrels and pigeons, I only saw wildlife at the zoo. Whereas my kids, growing up in this "Salt Life" lifestyle, know and appreciate the natural world. It's pretty amazing really. We lived on a lake and they spent so much time fishing and identifying fish species, feeding turtles, feeding a friendly heron (!!), identifying the various birds, and the occasional otter. A favorite activity was to spot "Sammy" our frequent softshell turtle visitor, as he swam by our dock. We have hawks and falcons flying about us. My 10 yo totally got into butterflies in April and we spent a few months slowing building a planter butterfly garden. OMG the excitement that occurred in my house the day our first butterfly emerged from the milkweed was so enthusiastic that we have pics and video.

 

We're not on a lake right now but in the past 3 months we've rescued a baby squirrel and a baby possum which we drove to the nearest wildlife rehab. Today my kids caught a box turtle and hubby just built it a cage. We go to Blue SPrings Park in winter and have manatees rolls right under the dock we're standing on. We go fishing on the Intracoastal and watch the porpoises play. We love our walks on the beach at night to collect shells and find the occasional starfish or sand dollar. We know up close what a baby stingray looks like and we know now if you see a bunch of birds going after baitfish in the water... get out and look for a dorsal fin (spinner sharks are all over here). We've also watched the release of loggerhead turtles and brown pelicans all back to the sea.

 

Next year we hope to get some kayaks as well!

 

A few years ago I was really down in the dumps, missing the culture of city life. My low low low times are Fall. When I'm sweating here and it's Fall there, I'm beside myself. Thanksgiving, with the family and the parades (!!!) back home, just drives me over the edge. But then somehow I discovered the blog LaPaz Home Learning. At the time the family had just relocated to the Keys and wow... that was a lightbulb moment for me. Talk about a Montessori or Charlotte Mason environment... these kids were living it everyday! The family is so hands-on and they had just had a plethora of Nature Study around them. That was a turning point for me really. There are so many opportunities to really explore nature here, it's such a learning opportunity (this coming from someone who likes her every 5 week hair and standing nail appointments).

 

So I try to weigh this a lot in my brain: go for the ratrace city life or go for the laid back Salt Life? Here I miss the culture and the lack of racism, there I would miss the abundance of nature. I keep telling my husband I want a balance of the two but nature is free, my love of shows - not so much (i.e. I just checked the ticket prices to see Daniel Radcliffe in "How to succeed in busines.... um, YIKES).

 

I guess our kids are lucky because maybe we'll be able to give them the blend of both. ;)

 

This is beautiful.

 

I have to say that we have lived a commute-drive from NYC and had the exact same nature experience (minus the Florida-specific species and really hot weather). You *can* have it both ways! :D

[QueenCat]

...you told him you'd wait & see what the Hive said first? :lol:

 

 

:lol::lol::lol: Excellent answer.

[Halcyon]

I was thinking of this today, and thought of you.

 

There is a sense of appreciating nature here in FL that I never had growing up. Outside of squirrels and pigeons, I only saw wildlife at the zoo. Whereas my kids, growing up in this "Salt Life" lifestyle, know and appreciate the natural world. It's pretty amazing really. We lived on a lake and they spent so much time fishing and identifying fish species, feeding turtles, feeding a friendly heron (!!), identifying the various birds, and the occasional otter. A favorite activity was to spot "Sammy" our frequent softshell turtle visitor, as he swam by our dock. We have hawks and falcons flying about us. My 10 yo totally got into butterflies in April and we spent a few months slowing building a planter butterfly garden. OMG the excitement that occurred in my house the day our first butterfly emerged from the milkweed was so enthusiastic that we have pics and video.

 

We're not on a lake right now but in the past 3 months we've rescued a baby squirrel and a baby possum which we drove to the nearest wildlife rehab. Today my kids caught a box turtle and hubby just built it a cage. We go to Blue SPrings Park in winter and have manatees rolls right under the dock we're standing on. We go fishing on the Intracoastal and watch the porpoises play. We love our walks on the beach at night to collect shells and find the occasional starfish or sand dollar. We know up close what a baby stingray looks like and we know now if you see a bunch of birds going after baitfish in the water... get out and look for a dorsal fin (spinner sharks are all over here). We've also watched the release of loggerhead turtles and brown pelicans all back to the sea.

 

Next year we hope to get some kayaks as well!

 

A few years ago I was really down in the dumps, missing the culture of city life. My low low low times are Fall. When I'm sweating here and it's Fall there, I'm beside myself. Thanksgiving, with the family and the parades (!!!) back home, just drives me over the edge. But then somehow I discovered the blog LaPaz Home Learning. At the time the family had just relocated to the Keys and wow... that was a lightbulb moment for me. Talk about a Montessori or Charlotte Mason environment... these kids were living it everyday! The family is so hands-on and they had just had a plethora of Nature Study around them. That was a turning point for me really. There are so many opportunities to really explore nature here, it's such a learning opportunity (this coming from someone who likes her every 5 week hair and standing nail appointments).

 

So I try to weigh this a lot in my brain: go for the ratrace city life or go for the laid back Salt Life? Here I miss the culture and the lack of racism, there I would miss the abundance of nature. I keep telling my husband I want a balance of the two but nature is free, my love of shows - not so much (i.e. I just checked the ticket prices to see Daniel Radcliffe in "How to succeed in busines.... um, YIKES).

 

I guess our kids are lucky because maybe we'll be able to give them the blend of both. ;)

 

Kathy-I'm tired right now, so tihs won't be a long post, but THANK YOU. This really made me feel better. You're right, I don't appreciate enough the nature that we have here, probably because it still feels to me so different from the nature that we have up north (no seasons, different trees, different animals...DIFFERENT!)

 

I need to open my eyes.

[JudyJudyJudy]

I hear you. Where do you live now?

 

My big concern is the lack of exposure to diversity/museums (and I don't mean once a year, I mean the kind of exposure where your kids know where the Manets are)....the homeschooled teens in NYC were/are AMAZING: accomplished, self-motivated, intelligent. I am not finding that with the older kids here in Fl, which makes me nervous about hs-ing my kids as teens here.

 

We too have found a great tennis coach ;)

But you're teaching your kids. You're not "those other parents." The good thing about homeschooling is that you can help to shape your kids no matter where you are.

[melissel]

I was thinking of this today, and thought of you.

 

There is a sense of appreciating nature here in FL that I never had growing up. Outside of squirrels and pigeons, I only saw wildlife at the zoo. Whereas my kids, growing up in this "Salt Life" lifestyle, know and appreciate the natural world. It's pretty amazing really. We lived on a lake and they spent so much time fishing and identifying fish species, feeding turtles, feeding a friendly heron (!!), identifying the various birds, and the occasional otter. A favorite activity was to spot "Sammy" our frequent softshell turtle visitor, as he swam by our dock. We have hawks and falcons flying about us. My 10 yo totally got into butterflies in April and we spent a few months slowing building a planter butterfly garden. OMG the excitement that occurred in my house the day our first butterfly emerged from the milkweed was so enthusiastic that we have pics and video.

 

We're not on a lake right now but in the past 3 months we've rescued a baby squirrel and a baby possum which we drove to the nearest wildlife rehab. Today my kids caught a box turtle and hubby just built it a cage. We go to Blue SPrings Park in winter and have manatees rolls right under the dock we're standing on. We go fishing on the Intracoastal and watch the porpoises play. We love our walks on the beach at night to collect shells and find the occasional starfish or sand dollar. We know up close what a baby stingray looks like and we know now if you see a bunch of birds going after baitfish in the water... get out and look for a dorsal fin (spinner sharks are all over here). We've also watched the release of loggerhead turtles and brown pelicans all back to the sea.

 

Next year we hope to get some kayaks as well!

 

A few years ago I was really down in the dumps, missing the culture of city life. My low low low times are Fall. When I'm sweating here and it's Fall there, I'm beside myself. Thanksgiving, with the family and the parades (!!!) back home, just drives me over the edge. But then somehow I discovered the blog LaPaz Home Learning. At the time the family had just relocated to the Keys and wow... that was a lightbulb moment for me. Talk about a Montessori or Charlotte Mason environment... these kids were living it everyday! The family is so hands-on and they had just had a plethora of Nature Study around them. That was a turning point for me really. There are so many opportunities to really explore nature here, it's such a learning opportunity (this coming from someone who likes her every 5 week hair and standing nail appointments).

 

So I try to weigh this a lot in my brain: go for the ratrace city life or go for the laid back Salt Life? Here I miss the culture and the lack of racism, there I would miss the abundance of nature. I keep telling my husband I want a balance of the two but nature is free, my love of shows - not so much (i.e. I just checked the ticket prices to see Daniel Radcliffe in "How to succeed in busines.... um, YIKES).

 

I guess our kids are lucky because maybe we'll be able to give them the blend of both. ;)

 

What a beautiful post! (And I hear you about fall--it would just kill me to be in hot weather then.)