Just thought I would share a little 'exercise' i did with my children this week, it worked for us and may help someone else
I have 3 kids (19, 14 & 12) and throughout this whole process we have all been in a state of euphoria, for want of a better word BUT it dawned on me this week that is isnt natural to make such a life changing move without any worries! SO i decided to play counsellor
I got 4 sheets of A4 paper and folded them in half. On the left i put a title ' what worries me' and on the right i put title 'solutions'.
Everyone, included me, went off with our sheets of paper and listed any concerns we had, no matter how trivial or silly they seemed.
We then all got back together on the floor in the living room (no furniture left to sit on!) with out sheets of paper.
It was an eyeopener cos we all shared pretty much the same concerns; fitting in, making friends, missing family at home, school work being different, and for me finding work and keeping a roof over our heads!
We then started filling up the right hand side of paper with how we would handle each situation, from visiting the leisure centre and joining sports clubs for my son in particular, finding families on here with kids same ages which has already come up trumps, setting up skype, deciding that maths is maths world wide, 1+1 still = 2 even if you are in Australia, making sure that we had given all family and friends lessons in msn and skype, checking out the schools curriculum. For me and the work issue i spent a whole night emailing my resume to loads of employment agencies and companies, hotels etc (Im a chef) - I now have at least a dozen replies from agencies saying they have work for me on arrival, offer of job at a hotel and offer of temporary short term work to tide me over if things get hard waiting for proceeds of house sale to arrive in bank account. We found some children already at the school they will prob be going to and my daughter is now chatting to them online - infact she is adamant she wants to go straight to school to get the last week of the school year in before they break up for holidays (strange girl)
But biggest thing that came out of it all is that everyone is now happy to admit that they have concerns and just by speaking up about them doesnt mean you dont want to go and you are not disappointing us as their parents by speaking up!

Ok - not really sure where this thread is going BUT it worked for us - we are now realistically euphoric

I think we all share these worries and concerns. Heres me wishing you all the very best with your newlife. Just take things one day at a time im sure things will come right with whatever you do in OZ just try and enjoy every minute of every day im sure youll soon be back on here for any help or advice you need.

Good luck chick

Suexx

Excellent idea, and superb approach.

Bloody well done from both me and OH on everything.

Best of luck for your move, I'm sure you'll do better than fine

Niki

Thanks
FOrgot to mention the funny bit: one of my sons concerns was that he would have the mickey taken out of him cos of his accent. I did the usual 'take it on the chin and laugh at yourself bit' then my daughter piped up 'its gonna be worse for mum cos she sounds posh!!' I am now known as Posh pom in our house and i may consider a name change once we land

Oh sh*t, I'm screwed. OH and his kids all take the mick out of my accent now.

Mind you, it took me 12 months to lose my english accent before, and 3 years to get it back, so I'm not expecting to sound english for long

Is there gingerism in Oz?

Stepson is right royal ginger! Factor 60 alert!!!!

yeah well i dont think i sound posh i just talk proper like!!

gingerism is that in the dictionary

If it isn't, it should be - blame Catherine Tate

Don't do that. Be yourself.

I just sound English... I don't have a regional accent at all... and am told that I sound 'posh' but ironically, once you have a little bit of an Aussie lilt to your accent, it means you 'fit right in'... I think it might be harder for people who have strong regional accents to be understood and it can cause problems, esp if they're desperate to 'fit in' and adopt an accent.
It's rare I get picked up on my English accent these days, esp as I'm in a fairly European influenced area, though it does happen. Happened yesterday actually... pick up eldest from a party and 'Oh, that's an English accent' from the mother... 'Yes, it is'... (big smile). It doesn't define me but it's part of who I am, for sure.

When I go for my job interview on Tuesday, I intend to use my English 'posh' accent as much as possible...

Be yourself. They'll like you for it.

You're not going to have a problem with settling, Daunted. I think you're going to be surprised when something does come up because it won't be what you expect.
You're teaching your kids a great thing... no problem is unsolvable...

I think you're all going to have a blast.

They'll call him 'Blue' but I haven't noticed much... but then where there are badly educated idiots, you'll get it, as you do in the UK. :-/

Blue we can live with happily!

You wouldn't believe what he gets called where we live, its disgusting, especially for kids

There are other threads here somewhere about red headed and auburn children... some not good.
I think a child who looks different will always get something, but it varies where you end up I think.
Pick as nice an area as you can afford.

Having the mickey taken out of you when you're a child is tricky.. I hope it makes him a stronger person... Get him into martial arts or some other confidence building thing as soon as you get here. He needs to be in a position where he commands respect.

He's just about to start Karate for exactly that reason!

We wanted him to get his temper under control before he had that option - 3 years ago when he came to live with us he had the typical red head temper and the deal was, get your temper under control & you get to do martial arts (worried he would use it offensively - he used to pick fights with 18 year olds when he was 8!!).

He had the daylights beaten out of him 6 weeks ago (the 10 yo who did it has just been given a caution for it) and he responded so maturely it is unbelievable. He's proven himself with bells on, so he gets to do it.

Sounds like he's going to be fine then. I have found kids here are just kids... less precocious than in the UK, happier to be 'just kids' and enjoy 'kid stuff'...
They're more respectful and seem to be much more accepting but look, you're always going to get tossers, no matter what country you're in. I live in a nice area and that's my experience... it's not everyone's.

Hi Daunted, How are ya.......Not been on for a while. Brilliant idea regards the A4 stuff. My eldest (just turned 4) only seem's concerned about his toys...Are we taking them mummy....And will I meet another Adam (currently his best buddy at Nursery) Bless.

You go in a couple of weeks don't you?Is it the 26th?

Good luck...our house fell through so looks like another crimbo here

Enjoy......make sure you keep in touch.

Justine