To feel depressed about living in a 2 bedroom flat

[mamimogo]

I was previously fine with it but since dd1 has turned 5 she's noticing more and more that most of her friends live in houses with gardens. Especially summer time when they get paddling pools out etc she keeps telling me she wishes we had a garden. We are working class and really could not afford to buy a house or garden flat. SIL has kids same age as my dds and has just finished a fabulous renovation/extension on their already huge house/enormous garden, we're due to go over for a family get together this weekend and I'm dreading it as dd1 gets really sad when we leave and starts crying and saying she wants to stay. Normally following up with questions on why can't we have a bigger house etc. AIBU to not want to go? I probably already know the answer to that so is there any advice on how to deal with dd1s questions? Has anyone had to deal with anything similar? Thanks in advance for any replies

[mamimogo]

Sure dd and you can keep him in your bedroom
🤣🤣🤣 @MysweetAudrina can't blame her for trying!

[mamimogo]

@IndieTara hopefully it will be worth it

It's literally the reason we've stayed in this area, the schools around here are fab so v fortunate in that sense. I totally hear you regarding not moving for a sake of a few years. @user87382294757 Have often considered moving out of London away from family and friends so we can buy a house but I think of when my girls get older and want to be in the city etc. DD1 doesn't normally have meltdowns when we're leaving her friends (only cousins/SIL) but she does get v grumpy and you're right, it's only a matter of time before that will stop. Thanks for the reminder

[mamimogo]

@IndieTara hopefully it will be worth it and I'm sure she will be grateful for the sacrifice you've made. Well done to you! And enjoy your garden, going out is over rated anyway

[mamimogo]

"is this really your WHOLE house? It's tiny!" @firesong this happened to DD not too long ago. We def make the most of the local parks etc but I guess having a garden is just on her radar atm

[mamimogo]

@user1494055864 I've just ordered it! Thanks for the recommendation!

[Mummadeeze]

We moved from a two bed second floor flat to a big one bedroom garden flat and we are so much happier here. The space is not that different as the rooms are big. We sleep in the sitting room (but it is big and the bed turns into a sofa) and our daughter has the big bedroom. We have a kitchen diner and having the garden has been worth giving up a separate bedroom for us. This flat is cheaper than the two bed. It does sound weird to people but it works absolutely fine.

[OneRingToRuleThemAll]

We live in a flat with no garden. It was hard when DC were tiny, but now they are older it's fine. It's a short walk to the centre of town so I don't need to run them around, bus and train links to London and it's affordable. When we can afford a whole house they will have left home. By then there is no point so a flat for me it is.

[AlmostAJillSandwich]

I've lived in the same house all my life, never had a garden. Would be nice, but it's just something else to clean, maintain, spend money on etc.

[NinetySixer]

It must be hard for you but kids are fickle.

I lived in a 4 bed detached house in a rural seaside spot but I was forever jealous of my friends who lived in the local town in three story townhouses because they had 5 or 6 bedrooms. As an adult I can see that where I lived was much nicer but as a kid all I could see was that they had more bedrooms.

[TipseyTorvey]

We have a garden. The DC won't play in it unless they have friends around despite us putting in a swing, trampoline, sandpit etc. They both want to go to the park all the time because thats where their friends are. I think children, and maybe adult just always want more, bigger, better. I guess that's how we got to the moon.

[cakeandchampagne]

She is old enough to thoughtfully talk about what she is thankful for now, and things & experiences she would like to have some day.

[SunniDay]

We live an hour and a half away from my side of the family and when my niece visits (7 years) she is often crying as she leaves. It's nothing to do with our house- that's nothing special - it's because she loves her cousins and time together and knows she won't see them for a while.

This may not be all about the house and garden. (Even though she says its about the garden and of course it would be nice to have one) but leaving after spending lovely time with family and cousins who you won't see for a while as they live some distance a way can be hard for a kid. It's all tied up in the package of their house but it isn't the physical house alone that makes her sad to leave I wouldn't think.

[feistymumma]

Just moved from a three bedroomed house with a large garden to a four bedroomed flat - never been happier. The house was just too big for me and my children and I are just not into gardens. We didn't even go out in the garden all of last summer. Like the other have said where you live is your home

[BlackeyedGruesome]

Builders tray they use for mixing cement on use in nurseries for toys underneath a small sand tray.

When they are tiny you can have a plastic slide.

Swings and football need the park, though round here the gardens are hardly big enough for either anyway.