Moving OS with a family- what to consider?

[Cassius2]

Congratulations to your H!!!! that must be a big boost for his confidence!! (although i am miffed that he is taking you away...here i was going to tempt you to hang out with me at various cafes LOL!).

have you had a squiz at the rental market in the town your moving into? sometimes gives a good idea of housing stock and areas that might seem nice.

moving the cat shouldnt be too tricky. we moved with our cat back to Australia and that was a PITA $$ and time wise as we have really strict quarantine procedures, but friends that have moved to the UK (for example) said that it was nowhere near as full on...(we paid almost $2000 to relocate the cat). your local vet probably has a relocation service that is worth asking about as they then take care of all the admin etc...

moving is madness whether you have kids or no kids and i dont believe age is really too much of a factor, especially before they start school. we have moved every 2 years in the last 10 years and you get through it. DD1 has moved 3 times (of course not OS...yet lol!), and her first time was when she was 3 months old (we moved interstate to come to melb). it actually wasnt too bad at all! my only really big tip is to get their room with their stuff sorted out ASAP when you get there. even if you are in temporary accommodation, get their porta-cots etc set up with the bedding (my tip: use their old bedding, unwashed from home....i found this REALLY helped...). get their routine in order as much as possible. i have found that DD coped quite well with the jet lag as the excitement etc of the journey (she was 2 at the time) really helped to tucker her out. we arrived during the day, so we tried (without too much insistence or focus) to keep her awake as long as possible (went for walks, bought snacks, watched DVDs). then when she did flake out in the late arvo, i let her sleep until just before dinner time and got her up for the dinner, bed, milk and storytime routine. it helped us get into a rhythm...

although it's a big move, it will be a fun experience for you and the kids! think of it as an adventure!! (oh and we might need your tips and hints soon in any case, my DH is off...with us in tow...in March next year to test the waters in LA...oh boy).

[luna moth]

I only just read the Seattle bit. That's awesome! And your H will be able to ride his bike to work over there :P

[meow]

Thanks everyone! We're frequent movers (last move was when our son was 9 months) and frequent travellers so I'm not so concerned about the move. More just managing ourselves post-natally with a newborn I guess. I don't want to be struggling with BFing, or healing tears for example and then expecting to jump on a plane and move to a brand new place with no idea of the local services, let alone the local groceries!

MummaSue- we've been asking about what ties we will have and I guess we'll have to check the contract. So far we've been told that the company will get him a green card after 6 months so he wouldn't be tied to them anymore and woudl be free to go to another company. They have also said that he will receive a bonus paid 1/2 in the first pay and 1/2 after the first year... so maybe that first 1/2 would have to be paid back if we left after a year.

I don't want to stay there for ages as we love where we live and I want to come back when our children go to school and to be back closer to family...so good to know it'll cost $2K to move the cat back again! I know Australia makes these things very difficult! We're also going to store the big furniture we want to keep, rather than get it shipped over given that we'll be paying for the return expenses.

Have been looking at rentals... I think we should be able to afford something to rent closer to the city than we are now as we wont care as much about the large yard so that will be nice to cut out my Hs travel time. Maybe then he could ride a bike

I was keen to catch up too Cassius! I used to live so much closer to you too!! We'll have to catch up before I go (if I go) though!

[YoYo]

Subscribing as I'm about to do a move to the UK....I need tips too! (even though I'm already away from home....It doesn't feel like a far away enough move from Perth to Singapore!)

[buliej]

meow

Here's what my sister said about areas to live:

If they're laid back, I'd suggest Bainbridge Island. It's a quick ferry ride to downtown Seattle from where he'd get a bus. If they want a reg old suburb, Bellevue or Kirkland.