Think I'd rather sit with the hooded youths myself....

???

We moved 'for the kids'.
I have realised that it was actually for us adults because how can it be better for the kids when you have dragged them from their family, friends and everything they know!?

I will never forget the day we left London Gatwick on that Thomas Cook flight to our 'better life' in Canada
My eldest daughter, who was 12 at the time and had done her first year in senior school, was given a picture of a plane to colour by the flight attendant. She drew herself with tears in her eyes looking out the plane window with a speech bubble which simply said in it 'bye!'.
It was then I realised what we were doing. We had dragged her from her dad, all her family and friends to move to a Country she had never even been to and knew nothing about. We just kept telling her she will have a better life there.
My youngest who was 4 took it alot better but didn't really understand at the time.

I just urge anybody to think carefully before you take the plunge. Is it really 'better for the kids?'

Correctomondo..unless you have lived somewhere other than the UK you have nothing to compare it with and wont realise what is good about the place until you have left...your perception of how shit the UK is or not changes when you leave.

As for he OP..it all depends on the individual..personally for my family the UK is better in terms of lifestyle and schools..but then again i would never base my decision to emmigrate on the ramblings of people on here me included.

I found that surprisingly moving to read.

are you taking the piss?
It was really sad she drew herself waving and crying and everything

No. I genuinely read that and felt like welling up. For once, I wasn't taking the piss.

That must have been quite upsetting on the plane. I can imagine the same with my daughter, although I was already here when they came over.

When we waved my wife's parents off last year we did not know it would be the last time we saw her mum alive.

That is the worst thing about emigrating when the kids are older, that must have been hard. How long did it take your daughter to settle? Does she feel now it was for the best?

As our plans are to, at the very least have our perm residence status in the next few years (hard to plan due to the unknown length of application times!).. Our kids should be no older than 5..

And its not as cut and dry as "its just for the kids", Im sure anyone who makes such a big move must take into account everything in relation to it.
My wife and I also believe the overall lifestyle will obviously benefit us-(as a couple + family too) From things like better areas to live and also career opportunities..

You definately don't take these things into account when planning on emigrating do you!?
You have a one track mind and nothing will stop you.

She cried almost every day for months
She still has down days particularly at the moment as her little cousin in England is desperately ill and may not make it to Christmas.

Under 5 is a good age as long as you think you'll be OK without the family around. They miss nanny and grandad.

The thing is everyone loves the British accent. My kids were the only British girls kids in school when we arrived so they were a real novelty. You soon realise thats all they want you for though and you learn who your real friends are.

We have found that there is not a big drinking culture here like there is in the UK, we drink a whole lot less now that we live in Canada - previously from Liverpool so say no more We have also found a big community feel over here, but you have to join in to appreciate it...again in Liverpool the community I grew up in was fantastic, just changed over the years with too many scumbags. By the way...the less drinking is a good thing!

Having read through the above posts - I agree that there is less of a drink culture here - i.e. in the 'drinking to get drunk as quickly as possible' variety. It is surprising how many high school kids are smoking something other than tobacco in between periods outside the school, but they always say such a pleasant good morning when I walk past them that I find it hard to be too shocked.
I totally disagree that you cannot relate to your kids if you raise them in another country to the one you were raised in, I am married to a guy who spent the first 20 years of his life in communist Russia, and Ok he doesn't get the occasional 'magic roundabout' reference but it is not a major hurdle to relating to each other or to our children.
Kids activities are expensive - both of mine play (ice) hockey and I try not to add up the cost - but one of them has been to Florida twice this year for tournaments, so it is not cheap.
Under 5 is a good age to bring them, ours were 9 and 5. We were lucky and the 9 year old fitted right in, the 5 year old didn't really know what was happening.

I'm with you there. My Anglo-Swiss children in Canada hardly ever brought home a friend who had two parents of the same nationality and none of them had Canadian parents. Families seem equally (dys)functional whether Indo-Swedish, Russo-Filipino, or all English. The major difference in my view is that children from mixed families automatically know two languages and so are set to learn more.

Hi,
I moved to BC in 2008 , our kids were 10 and 7,they have both settled in very well especially my son.Yes there is pot smoking and in BC where I am we have a big drug culture and gangs but they keep themselves to themselves, well the big gang memebers anyway.Knife culture is markedly reduced here and so is drinking, alcohol is expensive anyway .The kids here have more respect , funny as we were just talking about this last night.A friend who arrived 3 months ago said her 6 year old daughter is being taught in shool to relpy to someone who asks how they are in saying I am well thank you and how are you , you would never get that in the UK.My sons new girlfriend of 3 days who is 14 shook my hand yesterday , never get that in the UK.
We go skiing, camping,are involved in lots of activities which we may or may not have been involved in in the UK, yes its hard at first making new friends and settling in but its well worth it,!!

I don't think pot is going to be terriblly detrimental to the intellectual achievements of Canadian youths, I doubt any one's expecting much from them anyway.