to miss London so much even though we live in the lovely town of Horsham? :-(

[Lostandlostsomemore]

Everyone keeps telling me I'm mental.
We were living in a tiny 2 bed house ( with 2 toddlers ) with a patio in sutton and now live in a 2 double bed house with a massive garden and drive for the same price ( renting ) but I just miss London.
Well Sutton to be exact.
I know it had it's problems, schools were a major concern for me as they were all 3 intakes a year and some were struggling with the change of the amount of non English speaking children and we have the perfect school here for my daughter to start in September but it just doesn't feel right.
Everyone is very well off and are always astounded that at 33 I'm still renting but that's the card I was dealt so no point moaning about it. I hate having to drive everywhere, even into town is 2 miles so too long for the 3 year old to walk unless I have an hour to do it with all the stopping and starting.
Even parks aren't close together so you find yourself driving from one to another so we are spending way more than we were in petrol plus my husband lost London weighting so weighed up we are worse off financially.
Luckily I've found a part time evening job to top us up however that just feels like I'm missing time at home to accommodate this new life that I hate anyway.
My husband doesn't want to go back now, crime rate / gangs as a few stabbings happened just before we moved last year and really enjoys the green space / fishing etc which growing up in battersea I'm not used to nor do I like!
Biggest problem is obviously all school allocations have now been made so the school we would get if any would be terrible no doubt and we are signed into a tenancy until December so it's all just a massive mess.

I really feel for you OP. I moved from London to a small town 20 years ago and I literally spent the first year say 'I am not staying here'. You are only out of London 7 months and honestly it does take time. Someone once said to be that you can be happy anywhere if you are in the right state of mind and I never used to understand that saying. I get it now.

I know you are unhappy and you are missing your old life. Try to really focus on the positives. There are negatives to everything including living in Sutton and with kids you had to find a solution that works for your family.

A lot of my friends and family also moved out of London over the years and without exception they all say now that although it was painful it was the best thing to do for them at that time.

I hope it helps to know that what you are feeling is completely normal and really common.

And I'm probably no use for coffee as my babies are now teenagers. I agree it does help if you're near the school when they're small rather than across town.

I worked with someone from Purley a few years ago and she thought I was very provincial. I think it's nice here but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. I didn't really make friends until ds did (and I moved to this close 5 years ago and I'm still only on nodding terms with half the neighbours :-) )

I moved from South London to Surrey. I think it took me about 2 years to settle but truly it still does not feel like "home".

I too rent and it is sometimes hard not to feel the poor relation. My area is awash with money and lots of celebs and the very wealthy live here in their gated properties.

I moved in the hope my son would have a safer upbringing.

We have loads of different nationalities here, with lots of people from EE and we all seem to get along.

Ps. My friend says where i live is v similar to Horsham.

Maybe you should give it more time. I'm not sure where Sutton is or what it's like, but if you liked and lived there for a while, then anywhere else will be a shock and require some adjustment. Schools matter. There's no getting round that.

Stridesy,
I did also worry about not getting any of our options there even religious schools were always full to capacity.
Ras,
I had no idea it was still like this in England until I moved here

It was not that we moved for, it was for smaller schools and more for our money.
The school teacher friends I have had that mentioned it's a struggle attempting to teach 30 children if so many are also new to English, I have no idea on the impact that could have on learning as mine aren't at school yet!

Sorry if this problem seems minor I'm aware it isn't important compared to other problems