Reflection on our varied places of living

 This week, all the kids in New Jersey started school. (New Jersey is where our family started, where we bought our first house and was the first house where all 3 of the kids lived.  We left there just before Lauren started kindergarten and Drew was 6 months old.)

One of my friends posted a photo of her son (who is a senior this year) and she posted photos of him with the same kids this year as the year he started kindergarten.  One of my friends here also posted a photo of her son who is a senior with kids he is still friends with now.  It made me think about my kids and how they have started their milestones in all different places, without that continuity.

Lauren started kindergarten in Kentucky and then we moved to London. 

Alison did all of her elementary school years in London.

Drew did half of his elementary school in London and half in Kentucky.

And even though we are back in Kentucky, we don't live in the same neighborhood.

I spent my entire life in the same house with the same neighbors, and Brad lived from age 8 in the same house with the same neighbors.

But what our kids have that we did not have was the experience of living abroad, and learning about different cultures and religions, and travelling in Europe.

I do not think one is better, per se.  But I do think there is an amazing benefit to have other adults in your life who see you as part of their family, and other kids around your age who are almost like siblings because you spend so much time together, at school and outside of school.

There are definitely kids and families in our current neighborhood with that dynamic, but their kids all started kindergarten together.  And we had that dynamic in Kentucky before we moved.  When we moved back here, it was COVID and the girls were in middle school which adds a layer of awkwardness.

I do not regret our choice at all; I know that we made the right choice for our family to go to London.  I was struck today by how different our kids experience is to the many of the kids they know.  It is odd to them that they are the one of the only kids in their class that has a passport, or who has travelled to more countries than states.  

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