How many times did you move as a child?

[Neesy228]

So, between the ages of birth to 18 (or whatever age you left your parents home), how many times did you move? Were they good experiences for you or did you dislike moving? Do you wish you could have stayed in a certain area/house? What was the motivation for the move - remarriage, job, bigger house etc?

I only moved twice as a child. Once because my mother remarried and once because we needed a bigger home. I've never been particularly good with change, so I didn't like the moves at the time. I realize now that at least one of them was a good thing. We moved all within the suburbs of the same city, so it wasn't a huge cross country move or anything, but it did require me to change schools. That was tough, especially as a teen.

My children have all grown up in one house, in one town. Going to the same schools. Some days I think that's a good thing, some days I think it might not be horrible to shake things up! They'd hate it though!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I never moved as a child, unless you count shen I was 3 months old and went to live with my grandparents because my parents didn't want a baby with medical problems.

I moved out when I got married at 20, and we moved to our house about a year later. That was enough for me, I don't plan to move again.

 

[SC Minnie]

I lived in the same house from birth until leaving for college. My freshman year in college my parents built a new house about 2 miles from our old one.

We moved about 45 min away when DD was 3 1/2 and have been in the same house for almost 19 years. DD went to 2 elem and 2 different middle schools though.

 

[elphaba91]

3 times. Once from my home state to the Gold Coast because my father had apparently found a job. Then back to Melbourne, because my father had actually found the casino in Queensland and we were about to be out on the street and my parents were separating (well, my mother thought it would make him come to his senses but he never did). It made sense to come back to Melbourne where we had family support and as there were much better resources here for my sisters who were deaf. Then the last move was from one side of our suburb to another when we were able to buy a house rather than rent.

 

[NewRVLady]

we moved when I was about 7-so I started 3 rd grade in another school
Made oodles of friends her-we walked to school
VERY glad we did-we lived I a sort of "not too great" area -near busy street and shopping center

 

[nene0182]

Just twice and both time before age 5. We moved from TX to England when I was 5 months old and then from England to North Dakota when I was 4. My parents just moved and sold the house I grew up in last year to move to FL.

 

[ronandannette]

Zero times. My parents lived in the same place from the day they wed until a) my DDad died and b) my DMom went into a senior's facility 12 years later. Nobody "moved" (even just from house to house) where I was from; a rural place where the family ownership of farms went back generations. It was an extreme novelty on the rare occasion anybody new ever showed up in the community and almost nobody ever left, although that's change completely with my generation.

 

[Marionnette]

Just once. The new house was less than half a mile from the old one. I continued to attend the same school and all of us kids were able to walk to the "old neighborhood" to spend time with our friends from there. Not very traumatic.

 

[mamamary]

Only once. When I was 3 my parents bought their first house one block from the apartment they rented. My mom still lives there

 

[MIGrandma]

Oh gosh, the ones I can REMEMBER...5 from the time I was about 3 until 10. And I'm sure we moved at least a couple times before that. We moved to different places in the same town until I was 10. My Mom loved moving to new apartments. I didn't mind, and it was fun getting a new bedroom every so often. When I was 10 we moved to a neighboring town and they bought a place, so I didn't move again until I was 18 and married DH. We have only lived in 2 houses since we got married in 1975, so our kids only moved once until they got married and had a home of their own.

 

[Turn the Page]

Twice. The first time I was about 3 years old and moved from the tiny 2 bedroom house we had, where I had to share a room with my younger brother. We moved into the house we lived in for the majority of my childhood. When I was 15 we moved into the lake house my parents still live in. Both were good moves. I don't remember the first move at all, as I was 3 but I assume we were all pretty happy about it. The second move was a little sad at first but over all it was a good thing.

Both homes were in the same town so we didn't have to change schools or anything like that.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Technically zero.

Although Dad had a Summer job as a caretaker at a camp & we would "move" to the camp each Summer. It was only 15 miles from home, but I had access to the archery range, bike trails galore, the pool, etc, etc. Was a great place to spend Summers

 

[soccerdad72]

Just once. The new house was less than half a mile from the old one. I continued to attend the same school and all of us kids were able to walk to the "old neighborhood" to spend time with our friends from there. Not very traumatic.

Same here - we moved less than a mile as well, just from an older neighborhood to a new development.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I moved twice, once in the 3rd grade when we moved to a new house and the second when we moved a block away into my grandmother's house after she died, I was in high school for that move.

 

[HM]

I think seven times.
My dad's school and work were the catalyst for most changes. A couple times were within the same town to a better accomodation.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

By 18, I moved:

1. when I was 4, from my "birth" house to the house I consider my childhood home and where my dad still lives.
2. Age 14, when I moved out of my dad's house into my mom's house because she needed a babysitter (2nd mother) for my baby brother.
3. Age 17, when they moved out of that house into a new house. I was in my Senior Year of high school and commuted 45 min one way from Oct-June that year.

I moved into my own apartment when I was 19, bought my first house when I was 22, which is the house I lived in when DH and I got married and had DS15 in.

My poor kids haven't had it easy on the moves, especially DS15, who went to 4 different schools between 4th-5th grade (it was supposed to be a direct move, but life didn't quite work out that way):

1. Moved when DS was 2 from house #1 to house #2 in 2002. Had DD in 2004 and DS10 in 2006.
2. Moved from house #2 in Nov of 2009 and:
a. lived with my mother for 6 months from Nov 2009-June 2010 until the kids finished the school year while DH worked out of state. DS changed schools.
b. moved into my BIL's lower-level apt in the new state for 8 months (June 2010-Feb 2011) while we regrouped and looked for a house/area to live. DS changed schools
c. Rented a house in the school district we wanted from Feb 2011-June 2014. DS changed schools.
d. Bought current house in June of 2014, plan to stay until DS10 finishes high school, and most likely beyond (or at least stay in the same area). Nobody had to change schools this time because we moved down the street and around the block! They even have the same bus stop.

DS15 is not good with change, and the moves when he was 9-11 years old were very tough on him. Sometimes I wish that we could have just stayed in our 2nd home and raised the kids there, but then again, it was a very small town in the middle of nowhere (hence, our move for work), and I think that the small-town lifestyle was very one-dimensional at times. I'm not sure I wanted my kids to be as sheltered as they would have been living there their whole lives. We now live about 20 miles west of one of the biggest cities in the US, and the opportunities here for the kids are so much greater. We are in commuting distance to top universities, the job market is hopping, and we have settled into a little village with a small-town feel but with the amenities of the big city at our fingertips. Even with the rough transition for DS15, the kids are all thriving and have opportunities they never would have had in the small town. All in all, I'm glad we took the leap of faith and moved.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I never moved as a child.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

We moved when I was two weeks old from one apartment to a slightly bigger one in the next town over, then again when I was two and my brother was a baby to a three bedroom duplex (in the next town over again). At age 7, my parents bought a home in the same town, so we moved there. My grandmother passed away right before I turned 13 and we moved in to take care of my grandfather (also to establish residency in a town with a way better school district). My grandfather passed a year later, my parents divorced a year after that and my father decided to sell the my grandparents' house (that we kids were living in), so my mom found a rental three houses down the street, where I lived until I moved out on my own. So, 5 times by the time I was 15. As an adult, I have moved 10 times so far. Yeesh.

 

[kjpotter]

Never moved. And my parents still live in the same house.

 

[xlsm]

From what I know from memory and what was told to me...

Immediately after I was born, my parents lived with my maternal grandparents for awhile before moving into our own place. Then, when I was around 2, we moved about 3 hours away for my dad's job. Then, my parents got divorced when I was 4, so my mom and I moved back to our hometown. When I was 8, my mom remarried and they bought a house in town (we'd lived out in a more rural area) and I changed schools for the start of 3rd grade. I stayed there until graduating high school, when I moved to live with my dad and stepmom and go to college near where he lived.

After college, I moved in with my now ex-husband, and stayed in that house after our divorce.

When my current husband and I got together, I moved from that house to a different town (actually, back to where my dad lives), then a job opportunity moved us to our current area, and two and a half years after living here, we bought our current home. The house is zoned for a different elementary school, but within the same overall district, so we were able to have a transfer form approved the past two years to keep, at first both, now just one, kid in the same school (the oldest is now in middle school, which is the same we were zoned for originally - part of the reason we chose this house).This is where we plan to stay until the kids finish high school, and then who knows?

It sounds like a lot when I type it all out, but it doesn't really feel that way. I always felt guilty each time we moved the kids to different schools, but it was always at a good transition point, and they didn't even care. They fit in well with others and just go with the flow, so I was the only one worried and they were fine, LOL! If we moved now though, there'd probably be a riot. We love their schools and after 4 years in one place, they're very settled in. The area where we live is the first place that has ever truly felt like home to us, so we're here for the long haul. I can't imagine living anywhere else! (at least for true, traditional day to day living - i can certainly picture myself living on a beach or in cinderella castle, LOL!)