My family have come to stay for the weekend...
It's so nice to have a bit of time without constant attention to the angel...
I love her with all my heart, but it's nice to free my mind...
She's so happy with her Ammama (my Mum)
Funny Grandpa (my Grandpa, he's 87!)
and Auntie Hanna (my Sister)
I hate to think about leaving them behind and taking her away... it's too much...
Has anyone been through it before?
7 comments:
It's too common these days to leave our families behind. My parents moved from England to Australia shortly after they were married and I was born here. Now my husband and I plan to move away from his family. It's very difficult, so we asked my parents how they feel about the distance between them and their families.
My dad says he still feels sad that his mother can't spend every Christmas with her grandchildren. But the advantage is that when I do see my grandmothers it's really quality time. We go and stay in their homes, spend every minute together, without being dragged into by the daily grind.
So my husband consoles himself with the thought that when we do spend time with his parents it will be much more meaningful and intense then if we saw them once a week, squeezed into our stressful and distracting schedules.
It's difficult, but some families live in the same city and only see eachother at Christmas. The distance means can make us put in more of an effort.
Thanks Julia, I really appreciate your reply, it bought a tear to my eye...
It's not easy - when I was little, growing up, I lived about 5,000 miles away from my dad's family. Now I live in England I live about 5,000 miles away from both my parents and my mum's side of the family!
You've just got to create as much contact as possible - with technology these days, video phones, email etc, it really helps. I was really lucky that from the ages of 5-8 in the summer holidays I went to stay with my grandparents (dad's parents) in Kent for 2 months at a time. It was great and I was so blissfully happy doing things I didn't do abroad (make marzipan, go horseriding, fly a kite etc!) and it was made the more special because I didn't see them every day.
I know it isn't ideal having family "across the miles" (like those awful Christmas cards say!), I think I really benefitted from having family from different backgrounds and circumstances. You learn different things, you get a bit of a world view that you wouldn't otherwise have. And like Julia says, time spent with my parents now is actually quality time. We appreciate each other a lot more. We do still bicker though, that never goes away :)
J x
Hi
Thanks for popping by my new blog & saying hi.
I personally couldn't move away - but I am a home body & don't even like holidays.
I have a friend who is going to India with http://www.yoga-in-daily-life.org/
for 3 months - their family leaves in about 2 weeks.
Nice to meet you.
Love Leanne
I've been through it and it is heartbreaking, even when you know you're heading for a better life.
My son was 2 when I took him to live in Norway. We'd lived with my parents up until then so you can imagine how close my mum was to him. I know it broke her heart to see us go even though she knew he'd be better off in Norway. But with regular photos and letters, and visits whenever we could, they still maintained their relationship and he loves her just as much now as ever. What saddens her most though is that she never really built a proper bond with her two grandaughters as they were born in Norway and, until we moved back here, didn't speak English (I won't go into the reasons here - it'd take too long). Even today, she doesn't feel that she knows them in the way that she should.
Ultimately, you have to do what's best for your immediate family though and only you know what that is.
first time here.. and haven't been able to stop reading...
Leaving family behind is very difficult!! I have been there, done that!!
Thanks for all the lovely comments, It has really helped me to come to terms with my situation. I'm quite surprised that most of you have been through it before.
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