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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Sell our house..?

331 replies

Cornberry · 04/10/2019 11:22

We are in a pickle and I desperately need some good advice.

Last December hubby and I bought our first house with help from parents and scraping everything we could. It was not in the area we wanted but we thought we’d adjust and eventually move our lives that direction (we live in London).
In January my daughter was unexpectedly accepted to a school close to where we used to live. We thought we would just deal with it but the commute has turned out to be a nightmare. Hour there and back each way. Impossible. No chance of me ever working. It’s about 7 miles away. In rush hour London it’s unbearable and there’s no transport near us.
Meanwhile I have been off work sick for a few months (I have MS) and I am now unexpectedly 10 weeks pregnant and suffering from extreme pregnancy sickness as I did with my first.
To cope we have had to move to my mum’s who lives closer to the school where my daughter started in September. There is no question that we want her to go there so that is not the issue.
My mum is unbearable and despite the fact that I’m staggering about vomiting she keeps making comments about how she needs her space etc. Basically we’re not welcome here and on top of my health problems the stress is a lot to take. Luckily a mum from school who lives round the corner is driving my daughter to school with her kids while I wait out the debilitating pregnancy sickness (which last time went until 30 weeks).
Meanwhile we are living out of bags and my amazing husband is working hard to stop my mum getting pissed off with us being here while looking after me and my daughter, but we need a solution. When baby no2 comes staying in our new house is out of the question. It’s a long commute for hubby too and I’m bound to relapse after giving birth (as I did last time) so we need to reorganise everything. Here is the problem. We can’t afford even a tiny flat nearer school and I can no longer get a mortgage due to reduced pay because of illness and now pregnancy. We thought the best option was to sell up and use our capital to pay rent for a few years while we hopefully find a way to improve our financial situation. My husband is a teacher and his salary doesn’t even cover rent for a two bed flat in the areas we need to be in to make school accessible. But people keep telling us it’s a mistake to sell and if we do we will never be able to buy again which is probably true. The area our house is in won’t bring much rent and after fees and tax it wouldn’t even cover the mortgage. Plus as we only just moved in it’s not currently fit to let and we have no time or money to do anything to it. Does anyone have any advice? We have no idea what to do and despite being sick I think it’s important to address this before the next baby arrives.

OP posts:
daisypond · 04/10/2019 19:48

Even if it is the French school, there are several feeder primaries dotted around London.

SunniDay · 04/10/2019 19:50

Hi OP,
You are finding people's responses hard because people want to give you a virtual shake to make you see sense.

You are clinging to the school and school place while your and your family's time/health/wellbeing is being shot to pieces.

Your partner is a teacher and you are not in a position to work at the moment and realistically might work part time in education. You are not in a position to live in central London and use independent schools.

But ....that doesn't mean that life can't be pretty great! Right now in your street (the one where you own your house) there will be families with children happy and settled in school. Parents that have walked them there or had a short hop in the car. Lunch dates/play groups for stay at home parents, after school play/clubs and weekend sleep overs for older children. "Down the park" for teenagers. Happy families living life on ordinary wages. Some of the children will go on to top universities / top professions/ be high earners - depending on their attitude/aptitude and the support they receive. Some will be average Joe's- hopefully they will be happy. Ordinary life is really not so bad and might be a lot happier for all of you than your current plans.

Ginger1982 · 04/10/2019 19:51

I don't get why you moved before you knew for definite that your DD had or had not been accepted for the school. Seems a silly thing to do.

Passthecherrycoke · 04/10/2019 19:53

@Grimbles do you want a comprehensive list? Places I or close friends/ family live with no decent transport

  • cricklewood - 20 mins walk away from the trains, limited bus destinations that take a long time due to traffic
  • same in willsden green
  • same in Kingsbury
  • same in harrow
  • new cross/ millwall in industrial area where anything was a walk and central connections were overground and extremely crowded
  • off the main drags of Wandsworth and battersea with similar lack of connection
  • archway at the top of a massive hill
  • Acton industrial area
  • anywhere off the north circular
  • Colindale & Hendon
  • north woolwich

Now I’m sure you’ll come back and tell me all the train stations in these areas Wink but a lot of people don’t live near them. A mile is 20 mins walk, 30,40 with small children. Buses aren’t always very good. Overground lines often come in from the Home Counties and are packed to the rafters at rush hour

RhiWrites · 04/10/2019 19:54

Can you keep the house you own and have an interest only mortgage? You could also rent it out with an interest only mortgage and rent yourselves closer to the school. At London prices you’d make money on this deal.

swingofthings · 04/10/2019 19:56

Ultimately, no one here or strangers are going to change your mind if you think that school education is more important that home stability. It sounds like you've been raised with these beliefs, your OH and you are teachers so you have experience of the system.

I personally think it is so sad that people still believe that a school is the making of a child. There are many children who turn out to be well educated, with an excellent general knowledge, good attitude to work, excellent results, and who go on to succeed in their career, and other aspects of life if a top career is not an aspiration for them, who come from average local comprehensive. As a matter of fact, medical schools are becoming more and more interested in offering places to these students rather than those that come from elite schools.

Still, your view and your entitlement to it. What to do then?

Not much options really, or nothing that you haven't thought about yourself. Whatever it is, it will be a massive sacrifice so that your dd and assume next child go to that school. I hope she is an emotionally strong child because knowing the sacrifices that your parents have made for you to a school you might not half like as much as your parents, can be a very hard burden to live by.

soloula · 04/10/2019 20:07

I feel sorry for your DD. She may well be getting an excellent education but what about all the other more social aspects of school life which she'll struggle to enjoy and take part in being such a distance away. And she'll struggle to have a social life at home too due to the time taken commuting each day.

FluffyAlpaca19 · 04/10/2019 20:11

Can your husband get a job at the school your dd is in? He would then be entitled to reduced school fees and possibly subsidised housing if they have onsite accommodation. Some private schools have housing for staff and lots don't. It's worth finding out about just in case you're eligible.

The reduced fees would be financially beneficial to the fee payer, I'm assuming it's your mum. Also, if he does get a job at the school, his salary might increase so it will be helpful for you all round.

In terms of jobs for you in a few years time, think about home based Admin roles, look on people for hire site and see what's available. Or term time Admin roles in charities, schools and councils.

Kpo58 · 04/10/2019 20:13

She won't just be lacking a social life. How is she ever to do any homework or relax in the evening?

Seems a pretty joyless life to

  • Wake
  • Have breakfast
  • go to school
  • come home from school
  • do homework
  • eat dinner
  • go to bed

And repeat 5 days per week for the next 14 years.

itsabongthing · 04/10/2019 20:14

Could be the German school in Ham?

3luckystars · 04/10/2019 20:16

You have to think of your other child too.

itsahardknocklife87 · 04/10/2019 20:16

I wouldn't step off the property ladder to rent especially in London you will never get back on and waste money on rents that will only increase not to mention running to risk of landlord serving notice and being homeless it makes sense to find a school closer and remain in your property.

itsahardknocklife87 · 04/10/2019 20:17

Also won't she want to do stuff like Beavers brownies etc? All that commuting won't enable her to do fun

MoonlightBonnet · 04/10/2019 21:57

How the fuck are you going to afford two sets of fees at the lycee when you can’t afford to rent near the school? You can decide to make sacrifices all you like but that’s not actually possible. Your DH’s teacher’s salary is not a magic money pot. Having a second child in this situation and continuing with your schooling plans is so ridiculous I can’t believe it’s true.

lborgia · 04/10/2019 22:04

The phrase that jumped out at me was very early on describing her "complex" relationship with her mother. I think that whilst op is beholden to her mother, and thinks she had equal say in her grandchildren's lives, she will never be free to make a sensible decision. Any parent who makes huge sacrifices for their children's education, decides to do that for themselves. They can't then expect the child to be eternally grateful, but that's what has happened her. Meanwhile, a generation later, I'm guessing her mother didn't have to deal with the current house prices, the traffic, or indeed the MS.

That her mother says the grandchild will change schools "over her dead body" is also very telling. Where do you think OP got her perspective/ behaviour from? She has much bigger issues with that relationship that needs acknowledging, and which are about to impact another generation of her family.

OPs mother has instilled her social and family requirements, but they do not work superimposed over the top of today's reality.

OP needs to worry more about what is ACTUALLY happening to her family, what is right in front of her, rather than trying to live up to the ideals and expectations of a previous lifetime.

Her daughter is never going to fit in. Either they live in a shed in an expensive area and she is perceived as an outsider, or she stays in a local school, and is raised to believe that she is better than everyone else, and believes herself to be an outsider.

A new child will come along, and in her eyes will be responsible for making her mother ill, and meanwhile she's being dragged to a school where she cannot naturally form afterschool activities and friendships.

Trust me, OP, your mother will not die because your daughter went to another school. She will, however, make your feel even worse about not continuing the facade that your family is somehow better, and entitled to a privileged life, that she had already sacrificed her life to prop up.

palahvah · 04/10/2019 22:28

If your mum is so determined that your daughter should got to this school but she also encouraged you to move away I wonder what on earth she thought was going to happen. Where did you envisage you would be living when you dreamed of your daughter getting in to the school?

1Morewineplease · 04/10/2019 22:57

Oh my word! What an exhaustive thread.
You applied for a place at an exclusive school because your mother’s body depended on it.
You moved away because you couldn’t afford to live near the school.
Your DC got a place at the school but it’s now too far away.
You’ve moved back in with your mum as you’re ill and pregnant and your mum’s fed up with it.
You can’t do the school run from your own home. You can’t afford to move back as you can’t raise enough rent from your property and you can’t afford to live near the school.
What exactly do you want Mumsnetters to say to you dear?
You know exactly what you need to do BUT, what does your mother actually say?
And more importantly, what does your OH have to say?
I’m thinking that you haven’t told us ALL.
Otherwise, go home, take your DC out of prestigious ( and probably unnecessarily pompous) school, live a normal family life which your precious DC may actually thank you for , and stop kowtowing to your mum!

Merryoldgoat · 04/10/2019 23:12

I knew someone like you. I met her at NCT.

She chose the hardest and most difficult path ALL THE TIME.

He life was a fucking ridiculous panic and load of stress and she absolutely could not see the nonsense in what she did.

She was sending her daughter to an exclusive prep in West London driving nearly two hours to get her there and dragging her younger son around too in the car.

She couldn’t afford to live nearby so she and her husband depleted all of their savings renting a house that was too small in an expensive area.

I hate people who refuse to accept the reality of their situation.

I lived in a lovely area of London. Wanted a house. Moved to where we could afford a house. Because that’s what normal people do.

You need to give yourself a shake before everyone around you gets fed up.

WhoTellsYourStory · 04/10/2019 23:57

What a bizarre thread. You post a long and detailed question asking for advice in what seems to be a problem with only one good answer, only that answer is wrong.

You then don’t get the replies you want so 10 pages in you decide that you’re doing something that your original post said was impossible (buying a small flat nearer the school). If that was in fact an option then why did you need to ask advice in the first place? Clearly nobody was going to advise you to do what you’ve decided to do as you told us it couldn’t be done.

I’m just really confused!

Icantthinkofanewname87 · 05/10/2019 01:25

I feel sorry for your mum to be honest. I’d not be happy if I had paid towards my daughters own home and then she ended up moving in with me while pregnant and not working because she hadn’t forseen the school issue which sounds pretty obvious to be honest? I don’t mean to be horrible but you come across as quite entitled and rude towards your mum and also quite stubborn - you’ve clearly said in your post that you basically have no options except for your daughter to move schools but you’re flat out refusing to consider that, and instead living with your mum while insulting her and looking for solutions when the very obvious and easy one is just to move your daughter to a school near your home. You can’t have everything totally perfect and it seems like for the sake of everyone you need to move out of your mums house.

Tavannach · 05/10/2019 01:54

I think if you're French you don't pay fees at the Lycée, but it doesn't sound like the OP is French.
If it was me I'd stay in my house, send my DD to the local primary, chill and spend the holidays in France if I needed the DC to be fluent in French. Or check out the other feeder schools for the Lycée, which I've never heard of before. But I wouldn't really do any of that, because I don't rate the Lycée.

PicpouldePinet · 05/10/2019 02:00

I don't think it's a French school at all. I think it's a religious school in North West London. Am I right, OP?

7salmonswimming · 05/10/2019 02:32

If it is the Lycee, I know 6 girls who went there. Without exception, they have all settled in the UK (although some did some tertiary level studies in France), and they ALL have hugely over-inflated ideas of their intelligence, relevance and ‘specialness’. Native French speakers are two-a-penny in London.

If you can’t afford Seth Ken or something appropriately sized for a family of 4 near by (a 1-bed is not appropriately sized), and if a French education is so important to you, why don’t you just move to France and get your children educated for free, immersed in the culture. You’ll speak English at home and your children will be bilingual. It’s far more important to speak English correctly and without an accent, globally speaking, than French. All the children of my English friends in France speak English perfectly.

Think long and hard about what it is you really want for your children. Right now you sound like a spoilt, petulant adult who hasn’t really cut the apron strings and grown up, and who’s not getting what she wants. You’ve made bad decisions, and are not accepting responsibility for your own choices. Apart from the MS, which is regretful, this situation is of your own doing.

Mephisto · 05/10/2019 03:01

I’m guessing your mum is paying the school fees?

Mephisto · 05/10/2019 03:04

@PicpouldePinet OP says it’s a foreign school, not a religious school.