seat151

any problems? If so, how did you get round them?

rangersman2

my son was 5 when we told him and he was fine, when we left he was 6 and he said maybe 5-6 times that he would want to see his friends but once he started school and got some new friends there was no looking back.
How old are your children.Paul

seat151

Mine is nearly 8, so he will be 9 and a half (that so important half!)

carmele

My children are 5 and 3 and don't really understand fully the whole concept yet, but saying that, my eldest who is 5 said the other day......, "when we go on holiday........ I mean to Australia"!

So He is aware this is not just an ordinary holiday,

Rangersman, my son is also 5, your post is reassuring for me!

Carmel

Ozzy7

My boys are 12 ans 14 years old and cant wait to go, they have been to OZ twice before with us on holiday so know what its like, I think if we left it a few more years it would be harder once they start having girlfriends.

ohippy

mine were 6 and 8 when we first started talking about it, we talked about it loads of times in front of them so that, by the time it got serious, they accepted it as the 'norm'. We left when they were 8 and 10, eldest was scared and upset about leaving friends but they both settled really quickly and, with the help of MSN, now have loads of friends the world over !

carmil

Ours are 5 and 8 and they are way excited about moving. When we told them our plans (2 days before we sent the application!!!) they ran up and down the lounge squealing. Then our son (the 8 yr old) stopped in his tracks and burst into tears. We thought oh no, he's just realised what this all means. However it turns out that he was worried that we wouldn't get the visa and wouldn't be able to go. We have been surprised by their reactions as they are very close to their grandparents and thought it would be awful for them to leave them behind, but if anything they are really excited that grandparents will have to come and stay with us for long holidays. I think it just depends on the child, our son has always been painfully shy, and hates anything out of routine, so we are really shocked at his reaction. He is looking forward to meeting new friends and starting a new school???!!!, work that one out!! As for our daughter, she so is just so WHATEVER about most things so she'll just take it all in her stride (we hope!!) Anyway, good luck to anyone still to tell their kids/families!!!!!

kez81

i think the younger your kids are the easier it is my daughter was 2 so didnt really understand that much she's now 4 and loves it loves her kindy and all her little friends she has settled into it far better than me!!

kezx

Wendy

I have three kids. One was 6, one was 13 and the other was 18.

The 18 year old decided he wanted to stay in the UK to go to Uni.

The 13 year old didn't want to come and said he would go back as soon as he was 16

The 6 year old couldn't wait to get here.

The 18 year old did stay in the UK, he's doing really well at Uni and has just passed all his first year exams (6 out of 6 - I'm so proud )

My 14 year old decided that there is no way he'll go back to the UK, he was here for about 4 days when he announced that

And my 7 year old loves it too.

We didn't promise them anything, just told them that we would see what happened after a few years and go from there.

Mrs Jackaroo

My daughter was 5 when we told her and she sort of went through ups and downs - never any tears though so no major dramas. She didnt even cry when her mates, her teachers & me were crying on her last day at school! Took it all in her stride and has been the same ever since.

I'm sure shes more Aussie than Welsh now and we've only been here 15 months!

tracey.d

Mine were 14, 13 and 7 when we first told them. The oldests reaction was "cool" she was so excited. Now she's not coming

They're now 18, 16 and 11. The oldest now has a boyfriend, hence her not coming. The younger 2 are really looking forward to it. My son whos 11 is a bit sad about leaving his friends but still wants to go. My middle daughter is just "bring it on!"

I think they have known about it for a long time and I have waited (and waited and waited) until the best time for all of them and so they are relaxed about it all.

None of them are in the middle of exams etc. The older one has moved in with her boyfriend, middle one has finished her GCSEs and little one has finished primary. He'll go back into primary in Oz so will meet some friends before he goes up into secondary. So, its all good ( I hope )

Now, I just hope we don't get over there to find the kids love it and I hate it

I'm sure those of you with younger kids will have no problems with them settling

I sometimes wish mine were still little as we could have so much fun. The 16 year old doesn't want to go splashing in the sea with her mum any more

AusDream

Mine are 3 (girl) and 7 (boy).

My boy was tears and tantrums when we first told him (very clsoe to school friends) but without prompting he has come round to the idea.............as long as.....in his words....its only 2 years.

It seems he can rationalise it being a shortish period and be happy

midwife2be

We've talked about oz for years, if only, blah, blah, but I dont think they really ever thought it would happen!

Now it's getting a bit more serious, when the For Sale board went up the girls were not too impressed and as a mother I feel guilty as were going for my job and they keep having little digs at me

The youngest, 9, tends to swings between excitement and refusal to go, her best friend emigrated to perth in 05 so she is looking forward to seeing her again which is helping a bit. The eldest, 13, is taking a bit longer to come round although she's putting a brave face on it . I think it is harder the older they are and I'm not kidding myself that its going to be easy but if we leave it any longer she could refuse to come, this way, she has no choice!!

Like wendy, we havent made any promises, just that we'll try it for a few years and if we're not happy we'll come back

moneypenny20

Mine were 11 and 9 when we first talked about it (when we first told them we were coming) Youngest girl really keen but has always been totally laid back about everything. Eldest girl not impressed and it stayed that way. We booked the flights and she (being 13 by then) that she was going to live with friends and when I explained their parents loved her but not that much, she was going to live in a friends guinea pig hutch. I told her about spiders and she sobbed and didn't stop for about six months.

We didn't give her any hope that she would come back unless it was under her own steam and we told her that we were coming for a minimum of 2 years (hubby had no intention of going back but I was attempting to make it sound less life threatening).

She spent the last day with a box of tissues shut in her wardrobe. She loves it here and has done since about 8 months in.

The morris clan

MY boys are 16, 12 11 and almost 8. We told ours about 2 and a half years ago we were thinking about going and we were talking about waiting about 5 years till our eldest was settled in the Army as that is what he wanted to do. The eldest is just happy we brought the move forward so he can come with us, I couldn't bear to leave him behind so pushed to go earlier. Our 12 y.o didn't want to go, we talked him round by telling him he could go swimming more often and they have good libraries there. The two youngest are counting the days till we get there and have been asking how many sleeps since the day we suggested it, so as you can guess they are all for it.