Re: What have i done?
 

What can I say? People have covered it pretty well. I'd just add this. At the end of the day he has to make his own way in the world. Our youngest goes to uni in the UK in Sep, and we are off to Spain. I have to commute, but what the hell. He will be at Uni all term long, and since we encourage them to do their own thing, probably will be off with his friends in the holidays.

These days, even if you stay in the same country as your kids, hell, they may move to the other side of the world anyway.

My advice would be, don't force him, and don't force yourself. Coming back is no panacea, and you might regret it even more than staying.

Re: What have i done?
 

You may be able to get him into boarding with a family that you know/trust or someone at his school knows/trusts. I wouldnt be forcing him to go back either, he gave it a go and hated it. Without stirring any cans of worms, I still reckon that A levels are a better bet than the Aus equivalent and if he wants to go to a UK university (again a preference of mine having seen what my boys did at ANU) then it will be better for him to have been in UK to get A levels - no international student fees. You must be missing your DH - that would be an incredible sacrifice IMHO. Oh, and kick your sister out!!!!

Re: What have i done?
 

We moved to Australia in May after my OH went in Jan 07,at first we were fine then homesickness kicked in,my self and my 15 year old son so wanted to go home.I finally sent him home at the end of October and it broke my heart,but i knew i would follow him shortly as i didn,t want to stay either.Then something strange happened around December ,i don,t know what but i started to dread going home i was looking forward to seeing everyone but i didn,t want to go back to the UK.I thought that it was just the thought of travelling alone with our 2 year old daughter and the fact that my OH was staying put.I landed in Manchester on the 21st January and i knew i,d made a mistake.The plan was that i would stay here till our son completes his a,levels and goes off to Uni i would then sell our property and move back to Australia.I don,t want to be here that long i want to go back now.I,ve tried talking to my son to return with me after his GCSE,s do year 12 then have a gap year in Aus before deciding on Uni either in Uk or Australia no such luck.So now i blame myself i should probably of never let him go home.It,s due to circumstances that i can,t go into detail but he has no one to live with i returned sooner rather than later so my life is down to a 16 year olds decision.Can i make him come back with me at 16 or by law could he choose to stay?

I really feel for you and tend to agree with many others here that you shouldnt force him into anything he doesn't want to do. If you are not prepared to stay with him for the next 3 years till he goes to uni then you must arrange a place for him where he is secure. Have you asked him how he feels about you staying. With regard to your sister, it sounds like she is not the most reliable. I think any money you send should be split between your son and her. She can provide the food etc but for the extras at least he will have something. Further, this may work out to be a blessing in disguise as your son would have to be resident in the UK 3 years prior to university entrance in order not to be treated as an 'international' student.
How easy would it be for you to travel between Australia and UK? You have to remember that your marriage is important too! Sometimes we have to make sacrifices especially for our children.