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Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Hi there
My husbands company has rumbled on for a long time about moving him internationally. Its finally come to a head and the company would like to relocate him to Houston (at very short notice due to a number of reasons). We are keen to see Houston and find out what it's like for a young family to live for a few years. I understand our initial visit will be in about 10 days with a final decision to come from us within the month and relocation to happen by the end of August / September. Once I'd shut my jaw drop I assured my husband I'd make an effort to find out what life is like with little people in Houston given the pressure that has been put on him from work! He is excited about the opportunity though so it's all positive. I'm a stay-at-home mum who has two boys aged 3 and 1. They are both very energetic and we do a number of activities during the week here including: Monday - playgroup (I go with the youngest) Tuesday - playgroup (I go with the youngest) Wed - gym club, music class, nursery for the youngest Thurs - our free day for playdates, catching up on jobs etc Fri - nursery for both boys Sat - swimming lessons for both Sun - rugby lessons for the 3yr old I love my life with the boys from a social aspect for me as well as things to do with them. Can anyone please advise me of any playgroups, toddler groups, social activities with very young children, library times, sport clubs or classes that accept youngsters etc. In fact I'd be interested in hearing about anything at this stage to have something to check out. We'll give most things a try! I'm feeling very excited about the move but am going to miss all my mum friends very dearly and I would be keen to get out there and have fun whilst hopefully making some new friends too. I'd be really interested to hear of any playgroups or other ideas of what we can drop into or arrange a visit during our visit to get a feel for what its like and to give our 3 year old a break from being trailed around Houston. Thanks ever so much for your time and any advice offered in advance. |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Originally Posted by Bonnie01
(Post 9296004)
Hi there
My husbands company has rumbled on for a long time about moving him internationally. Its finally come to a head and the company would like to relocate him to Houston (at very short notice due to a number of reasons). We are keen to see Houston and find out what it's like for a young family to live for a few years. I understand our initial visit will be in about 10 days with a final decision to come from us within the month and relocation to happen by the end of August / September. Once I'd shut my jaw drop I assured my husband I'd make an effort to find out what life is like with little people in Houston given the pressure that has been put on him from work! He is excited about the opportunity though so it's all positive. I'm a stay-at-home mum who has two boys aged 3 and 1. They are both very energetic and we do a number of activities during the week here including Monday - playgroup (I go with the youngest) Tuesday - playgroup (I go with the youngest) Wed - gym club, music class, nursery for the youngest Thurs - our free day for playdates, catching up on jobs etc Fri - nursery for both boys Sat - swimming lessons for both Sun - rugby lessons for the 3yr old I love my life with the boys from a social aspect for me as well as things to do with them. Can anyone please advise me of any playgroups, toddler groups, social activities with very young children, library times, sport clubs or classes that accept youngsters etc. In fact I'd be interested in hearing about anything at this stage to have something to check out. We'll give most things a try! I'm feeling very excited about the move but am going to miss all my mum friends very dearly and I would be keen to get out there and have fun whilst hopefully making some new friends too. I'd be really interested to hear of any playgroups or other ideas of what we can drop into or arrange a visit during our visit to get a feel for what its like and to give our 3 year old a break from being trailed around Houston. Thanks ever so much for your time and any advice offered in advance. You might try asking your question on www.city-data.com too :) |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Originally Posted by Bonnie01
(Post 9296004)
Hi there
Monday - playgroup (I go with the youngest) Tuesday - playgroup (I go with the youngest) Wed - gym club, music class, nursery for the youngest Thurs - our free day for playdates, catching up on jobs etc Fri - nursery for both boys Sat - swimming lessons for both Sun - rugby lessons for the 3yr old |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Originally Posted by edmontron
(Post 9296275)
Rugby for 3 year olds?! I guess the nappies they are wearing come in handy for cushioning when falling over...
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Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
I never did find playgroups or anything like that here for my guys when they were little, I had a few friends and we would meet up and do a play day at the park. Any organized activities for us would have involved a 45 minute drive one way and huge fees, so I pretty much gave up, then when Ds was 3 went back to work two day a week and enrolled him in a preschool/daycare facility for those days.
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Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
thanks for the info, I've got a long list going for hopefully an informative and helpful visit.
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Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Welcome to BE and good luck with the move!
For more general info, such as things and places to go see and do, there's plenty of threads on Houston already and the wiki is a great place to start when looking for info on relocations. As for the kids, no idea about down that way, but you'll probably find far less in terms of free stuff for young kids, pre-school tends to be really expensive and museums and those kind of kids adventure parks/zoo's/farms etc tend to charge for 2 years plus. The mall might have some kids events on a weekly basis, the Simon's owned malls do if you pay for annual membership. Borders tend to have a weekly kids story time and you'll probably find other places doing the odd thing now and again, but there's probably a new mums group on meetup.com and the libraries probably do craft things and stories too. |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Hi,
I just moved to the US (Pennsylvania) a month ago with my husband and 14 month old. we've found that there's lots going on for little ones, although you pretty much have to pay for everything and it all seems more expensive than in the UK (although it probably balances out since we don't seem to pay so much tax here). we haven't found there to be 'playgroups' as we had in the UK but don't fear as there's loads else going on and i'm sure houston will be the same: free activities: -local library for storytime/singing session -local bookshops for same - meetups website - we have a very active mommies meet-up group here where mums can advertise playdates, park meet-ups, local kids activities and trips further afield (also good for discussion forums for sussing out all sorts of things e.g. medical care recommendations) activities that cost: -Gymboree Play & Music - run baby gym, music, art and sport classes (you can do a taster session of any classes you're interested in so that might be one to try when you're over on your pre-moving trip if there's a branch near where you might be living). my daughter loves it! - The Little Gym - don't have experience of this one but think that they have branches all over too and also do tasters. - YMCA (who seem to run all the sports/leisure centres here) - lots of classess for little ones, from swimming classes to toddler soccer. Good Luck!!! We've had a really positive experience over here so far so hope you do too. ps. just reviewed my post before submitting it and see that someone else has just posted with some duplicate things to those i've mentioned - got to rush and make my daughter some dinner so no time to amend - apologies, but hope there's still some useful additions for you! |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Originally Posted by Butterflybid
(Post 9296894)
...(although it probably balances out since we don't seem to pay so much tax here)
Welcome to BE though! :) |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Look for 'Mothers Day Out' or home grown playgroups. When we arrived in Houston, my wife found these groups on local forums and by going to church. If nothing else, you'll get a feel for how things work. Watch out though - some of the groups are full of whining ex-pats.
Keep asking questions and you'll get more and more answers! Good luck! :fingerscrossed: |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Thanks for the tip - will exercise caution when socialising - I dont suffer fools gladly and tend to be more glass half full than empty.
BTW - my Scarlets fan husband is highly impressed by welshness being in Houston as well!! |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Originally Posted by Bonnie01
(Post 9296004)
Hi there
Sun - rugby lessons for the 3yr old Good luck! Doug. |
Re: Moving to Houston with a 3yr old and 1yr old at very short notice - any advice?
Originally Posted by Bonnie01
(Post 9296004)
I'm a stay-at-home mum who has two boys aged 3 and 1.
I know that I found that I met many interesting people through my kids! |
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