My son hates his new life

[late30s]

Ok, so it sounds a bit melodramatic, however I want you to help me with my dilemma. We moved to France two years ago (after returning to the UK for a bit), mainly because we had invested all of our money in a plot of land over here, and had to see it through. So we returned, committed to the idea that we should finish what we started. Since then I have been chatting with my eldest child who informs me that he was much happer in the UK where they played sport, music and he was top in the class. Now he's struggling in Maths and spends most of his time at home watching English tele. He went to a really nice school in the UK, don't get me wrong, the school here is also very nice, set in a beautiful village, but after two years, he still talks about his old school, his old friends and the fact that it was easier to learn in English. This has got to the point where when I weigh everything up, I realise that the "lifestyle" that we moved here for only exists for those who can afford both the money and the time to achieve it. For me, I spend my time fretting over whether my kids are happy, how I'm gonna be able to earn money when there's strikes every week and whether we should be returning back to the land where life was easy. Please help, I'm set on the idea of returning to the UK for the Summer 2011, but this will be an enourmous stretch financially as we'll probably have to rent somewhere in the UK until we sell the house over here.....it might end up costing my relationship as well as our stability.

[countydurhamlass]

is there any clubs, local community centres or after school activities he could get involved in?

personally i would ban him watching tv (i know this is harsh). whilst he is spending all his time indoors reminising he is not exploring what is all around him.

what about as a family having "exploring" days and getting involved in the local community.

perhaps have a get together and invite some neighbours with similar aged children round for tea and a couple of drinks.

[late30s]

Hi there, sorry the earlier picture I painted was possibly a bit too bleak. He does play tennis once a week and has friends. I think you're right - with the strikes, he's been spending more time at home and I hadn't really anticipated this. I think it's time to start organising more things for him to do on his wednesday's off - he's not a big walker/explorer and usually has to be bribed with a trip to the tabac for sweets if we go out! My post was really pointing to the fact that I'm wondering whether moving here was really the right thing to do as our lives are harder generally - this was supposed to be a pleasurable move - but in fact it has turned out to be a real pain!

[Othersideofthechannel]

Have you seen the Am I Being Unreasonable Expat thread?
There's a post with the different stages you go through when you move to a different country. Everyone has negative feelings towards their new country at some stage. It could be helpful to see how other expats feel/felt.

[late30s]

Thanks Othersideotthe channel, we've had visitors recently so I didn't see you reply - I'll take a look....