For those whose kids moved away as adults, how far did they move?

[AnnaS]

My two sons live where I live - 15 and 20 minutes away. I babysit for one son (also babysat for older son years ago). I see them often/attend many of their sports games.

My daughter lives two hours away/another state. The drive is doable but wish so much she lived here also. We see each other every few months. A lot of FaceTime!!

 

[Snowflakey]

I have two daughters both who have their own homes......nice and close!! See them several times a week. Love my girls and grandkids!!

 

[Dug720]

I am a kid who moved away (single...my "kid" is my cat). My parents live in Nashville, TN. I am currently in NYC - I've lived in Raleigh, NC, Waukegan, IL, and the Northern Virginia/DC area before moving here. My sister...well, she's wherever the ship she's on is except when she's on her vacation and then she's with my parents or traveling.

As my dad says, they raised us to have wings.

 

[tvguy]

Now that my son is 400 miles away, I see him more often than when he was 6 miles away. Before he and my daughter in law started a family, they were very socially active. I'd drive by their house and they were never home.

 

[China Expat]

We are in So Cal. Our son attended university in Pittsburgh and works in San Francisco. I recently too a position in Boston for six months- loved it there!

 

[jdb in AZ]

In my mid-20's I moved about 600 miles away from home. I don't think my mom ever got over it, especially since I convinced my big sister to move here too.

Fast forward forty years and my DD moved 2200 miles away. We miss the grand kids but computers and cell phones make a huge difference. It's not like we have to wait for pony express to deliver a letter (the sooner the better.) I'm not a fan of airports but we consider them a necessary evil.

To answer your question, we usually visit them every Christmas, and DD was here in September when DH was having health problems.

We've also met up with their family in WDW more than once.

 

[easyas123]

Eldest & his wife are about 5 miles away, youngest & his wife are about 45-60 minutes depending on traffic. They are all over here frequently as they keep a lot of their hunting & fishing stuff and one of their boats here. Plus Mom & Dad have a pool and a usually a stocked fridge

 

[prairie_girl]

A few months after high school graduation my daughter moved three provinces away and it was the longest year of my life. I think it was good for her, and I’m glad she got the life experience, but it wasn’t fun for me. She’s back and we’re only about 15 minute apart, but she’s dreaming about one day possibly moving to London. I don’t think it will happen, but I’d be ok if she she a eight hour plane ride away, especially since her second dream city would be Melbourne or Sydney.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

My son went to Beijing, China to each English. He stayed 6 years, but did come home over the summers and a few winter breaks.
EXCEPTION to that was Covid era when we didn't set eyes on him for over 3 years. He's less than an hour away now. I'll enjoy and treasure it for as long as it lasts!

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

That’s not a term I know.

I will read up.

Seems like keeping in touch is so much easier today even compared to just 20 years ago.

I can't imagine leaving home knowing I would more than likely never return, or my kids leaving and knowing I would more than likely never see them in person.

My son's wife immigrated here 18 months ago. I feel for her parents as I know how hard it is to not know when you'll see them again. I hope my DIL/ or both my son and DIL can travel back to China within the year. I also have been enlightened to how other cultures treat the parent/adult child separation.

 

[Southernmiss]

4 kids

One is an hour away married with our grandbaby

One is 2.5 hours away

One is 15 hours away

One is 12 hours away, but spent last year in Japan. They were home less than a week in August to pack their room here and then we helped them move.

We see the one an hour away at least twice a month now that the grandbaby is here. We babysit and help any way we can. We even left work early a few weeks ago to help with daycare pickup, dinner, bath and bedtime when both parents were sick.

We see the one 2.5 hours away about once every other month. They're home this weekend

The other 2, we see when we can.

The one 15 hours away was home for Christmas last year, but invited us to meet them 6 hours away 3 weeks ago for a college football game. It was so good to see them in person for those 36 hours.

When the kids were young, I never expected them to move so far away. It's been a mind adjustment for me. We expressed thoughts of " But that's so far away." Especially when three kids went to college 5 hours away.

But we would never hold them back from their dreams.

A special person gave me a picture many years ago that says " There are 2 special gifts we can give our children, one is roots, the other wings."

Thank goodness for texting, phone calls, and FaceTime. We all are in touch many times a week.

 

[marthachick]

DSs first house was a little over 5 miles away. The house they live in now is a little under 5 miles away. So happy they’re that close.