Hello all, it's been a long time since I've been on here. Baby Isobel is doing great and her mother (although starting to looking like Barry Norman) is doing great too!

So, we have sold our house to a friend which meant avoiding viewings and realtor fees. Hooray. We put in a new kitchen (arrived 2 days after Isobel's birth - aaagghh) and I think it really helped with the sale. Lots of people told us not to do it but delighted we did as it paid off in the end.

Now it's time to start selling furniture which feels rather daunting. Hopefully hubby will take paternity leave and we can get it done together. I love Canadian paternity rights! Apparently he can continue to claim when we go home too. Madness.

And sanity wise.........slightly stressed but coping. I take big gulps of air and venture into the basement to do yet another Sally Ann run. I just hope this is the right decision for our family......I believe it will be.

And emotionally, I currently feel lonely and bored. After 7 years I have made one very close friend (a bloody Brit) and a few acquaintances. I'm a social gal but I find it so difficult here. I've tried getting to know some new mum's but I have no energy to bother anymore especially now we know we're going. I want to sit with a glass of wine with my old chums around me and my Mum who is an amazing support.

We'll stay on the island though the summer and camp and enjoy some sun and then do a trip to the US and head home with the dog (and hubby and kids) in Nov. Xmas with Mum, Feb in India, March job hunting. Aaagaghh.....

Feeling blessed that it's all going smoothly so far. Good luck to all in their moves back. x

Well done! I was wondering how you had been getting on! Great news on your house, big relief for you!

Hope all goes well in the next few months.

If you were closer to Ontario, i would have had a glass or two of wine with you!!

I'm going back for a holiday this July with just my eldest back to our hometown and i can't wait - already have lots of get togethers planned. My good school friends that live the length and breadth of the UK are coming down for the night too - looking forward to being around my best mates again!!

I was just saying to my husband that we are social cats too - i like having people around, being a stay at home mum there is not too much adult time!! We do though have some great neighbours that we have become close to and enjoy nothing more than a glass of wine on the porch - so we are lucky!!

We are still thinking about moving back, but our problem is my husbands business is here and needs to get to a decent place before we can think about too much.
Our other issue, is my husbands family (parents and 3 sisters) are all here, and our kids are very close to them and all their cousins!
AHHHHH, going round and round in circles! Do you feel better once you have made a final descion? Hope so!

If we did move back i am thinking i may have to pay for some extra tuition for my 5 and 8 year old. That may sound bizzare, but i am concerned that they would be very much behind in the Uk system now as the 5yr old only goes 2 days a week and will continue that also next term.
Don't know if anyone has had experience with this or if all pans out!

Have you decided where your headed too?

Really hope it all works out for u and keep us posted!

Sounds good!

Hello, I am very happy you sold your house. Maybe some of your luck can rub off on me. trying to sell darned house in Arizona for past 2-3 years. just took off market may try again if Fall if not. anyway wish you all the best!

Great news about the house...one big thing out of the way!

I too was wondering about you and your new baby when I popped on BE.

Time is ticking for us too. Fortunately no house to sell but there's still tons to think about and discuss and make plans.

I am off with two of my kiddies in July to have a bit of a reccee. I often think that moving back is the wrong decision and we should stick it out in northern spain but I really don't think it's for us long term. It really is lovely here but incredibly boring and I feel like a real mis-fit. We probably are real mis-fits but would blend better in the UK, where you can be who you want to be.

(feeling that I am waffling now....)

Anyway, I'm hoping that our trip back to the UK will make me make a firm decision for us all.

I am also going to look at a couple of new areas and see what the schools are like and weight up the better option.

Enough of me...Keep us posted to how it goes and good luck with everything !

Congrats on baby Isobel and the house sale. Safe trip home.

Thank you all......I will certainly keep you posted on our journey back. Yikes it's scary. We're probably going to go to the Warwickshire area but it all depends on jobs. My husband will hopefully get an IT position and I'll do some supply teaching while the kids are so young.

Does anyone know if we will have to enroll our boy who's 4 into school right away? We'll be at my Mum's until March and in India in February so I wondered if we could or should avoid school until after Easter in our new area or do we get him as soon as we get there.

Any thoughts?

We were so lucky as this is still a desiable place to live and there are plenty of baby boomers still moving here from the east side of Canada. We looked at other houses too to see what they were offering compared to our home. We then did lots of jobs to make it more appealing and it seemed to work. The current economic climate doesn't help though does it and all the renos in the world may not work......just time I believe until people feel more confident. Ah bugger.......I wish you good selling luck in the future. x

It depends on your boy's birthday, when will he be five, which month?

If its between Sept 2005 to Aug 2006, he can start in September 2010.
If its between Sept 2006 to Aug 2007, he can start in September 2011.

Also, some areas and schools have two intakes a year, September then January usually. Best to check the website of the council.

Even before they are to go to Primary school there is Nursery School which is optional. My children went and you could choose either morning or afternoon.

If your boy is old enough only for Nursery School and while you are at your moms, I would recommend that he goes.

If you boy is due for Primary School in September 2010, I may be a bit worried to enrol him, only then to take him out in Feb when you go to India. Then having to join a new school, in a new area, in a new house.

I suppose this is what you are concerned about? About him going to two new schools at a young age. ? I think it does depend on your child really. Some children are not fazed about going to school. Just that my children are all shy (well the girls are, the boy no). If your boy is sociable and confident, I would think he'd be Ok to join in September while at your moms then go to a new school in your new area.

For my girls, I think I would probably home school and wait till Easter when we had a place to live and then get them into school, but for my boy, I would do. Hope this helps!

If you were closer to Ontario, i would have had a glass or two of wine with you!!

Ah well, long distance drinking is always possible. A glass or three of red would be nice as there's only 25 calories in each!

Thank you Manamama, it does help enormously and you're so right about personality types.

He was born in Feb 2006 so he's due to start in Sept but we won't be back there until the end of November (dog can't travel before then - madness), then we have a trip to India with my Mum planned to see family and friends, (more madness) so I guess there's little point in doing it before Easter. He's a fairly social boy but I think he'll be spinning and it will all be too much. Would I need to tell the LEA that my plans are to home school do you think?

Anyway, I empathise with you as we too live in a beautiful place here on Vancouver Island. It is truly idyllic but I'm also bored and have that 'I don't fit' feeling. It's a shame.... My problem is work too. I teach ballet here and love it but I'm out in the evenings which doesn't work with my family life so well and teaching jobs are based on seniority and there's declining enrollment so jobs are very rare. I want to get back and find a part time teaching position or do supply so we'll see. Scary.....

Thanks again for the food for thought.

Hi again,

Yes scary I agree but keep positive and it will work out.

As for contacting the LEA, It's not necessary or obigatory. Maybe if they had your child in the system (which he obviously isn't) would you let them know so they know you don't want a place. Check out http://www.heas.org.uk/

Plus you are arriving in November then off in the February - so really it would be like a holiday for him initially. The experience he will have will be fun and educational in itself...

Yes leave it till Easter when you return from India. If you have an area in mind, you could call up the LEA there and ask about school places. It's best to find a nice school with space for him before you choose a house. Or you could be too far to walk or have school friends on his doorstep.

Good luck with it all.. Don't let the school thing stress you. I should be in the UK before you so if you need anymore help, just pm me. I love a bit of research and fact finding..

Hi lilybilly101, I'm thinking of moving back home to Warwickshire too next year, but from the Middle East. Where abouts are u from in Warks?

Hi there,
I'm not from there but LOVE the area. I have a very clse girlfriend in Rugby so that's where we're thinking of going. The schools are fab there for the kids and for me to teach in and it's in the middle..ish of the country for us to travel around visiting. My hubby is from Canada and he didn;t want to live in Manchester or Cheshre where I'm from but he liked Warwickshire.

Where are you from? Can you recommend any other fab places to live there? We're still wondering whether we're town or village people!

Look fwd to talking with you, Lily.

Thank you, thank you. I love this forum.....I think one step at a time is all we can do otherwise I have to reach for a paper bag! So much to do....but it's all going well so far. And you raised a VERY good point about just the move being educational. He'll be experiencing and learning lots in just doing it so thanks for that.

I'll keep you posted.