Living in America 2012--Because It Is No Longer 2011

[MmeBucket]

This is what happens when I start threads--they get stupid titles. Someone else needs to start the next one. Hopefully we can get this one filled by 2013.

Link to old thread for reference

Not much happening here. The kids have been off school for 25 days. I am soooo looking forward to them starting school tomorrow. Except it is my day to help, so instead of getting a break from my two, I'll have 22 of them to deal with.

If you are so inclined you could look for an attachment parenting group too, my guess is that there are more likely to be SAHMs in that one.

Hello BabC,
You could always set up your own group on Meetup.com? I found a few groups for SAHMs and mums of babies/toddlers, but found that actually I really missed British banter so I set up a group for British mums of babies and toddlers and bingo - instant friends! It's also worth sussing out where the local 'hotspots' for mums with similarly aged little ones are and hanging out there a bit - I found I get chatting to lots of nice folk in the park, or at the local children's museum which has an excellent play area for young babies up to toddlers...

PS Don't feel guilty about spending money on activities for you - it's so important to find things to help you settle in and feel a bit more positive about your new life... And happy mummy = happy baby, right? :)

If it helps I'm already feeling much better now and we moved nearly 3 months ago. I have a 3 year old and now he's in preschool making his own friends, DD (5months) and I are getting out more. Our stuff has arrived, we've moved into a gorgeous house, I've developed the relationships with friends we made early on and found 3 Brit mums who I see once a week who have the same (alcoholic) sensibilities as me!

I am still looking forward to moving back in a few years but am enjoying the now a little more. Helps that the Californian weather had finally bucked its ideas up!

Elaine - I live and work in Midtown. I'm on holiday on the West Coast this week, but will be back next week if you fancy meeting up for a coffee.

I'm so excited because we've had 2 days in a row of nice weather. I can't remember when it happened last.

I think the letters and post cards for DS are starting to come in. The funny thing is he was sick last week, and hasn't even written his letter out yet. He's really excited because he was the first one to get mail even though he's the only one that hasn't done their actual written letter.

Hello everyone. I popped in in January saying we might be moving to DC, and now we definitely are! Exciting.

Spuddy I saw that you are moving to DC too. I can't be of any help I'm afraid, but Arlington is meant to be nice. We have a house to go to in Falls Church, should be moving first week August. What about you?

Mme - I sent a couple of cards last week. Does he need one from California?

Sounds fab neither

Mme i sent a postcard last Friday. Hope it reaches him soon!

Thanks, but California has been covered.

I'm glad you are feeling more settled, girlwiththemousyhair (love the name!)

MmeBucket, my friend in Alaska had left just as I got your mesage so I am unable to help, I'd afraid. But if you need a postcard from the UK, I'm your girl!

Haven't sent a card yet. Had car trouble this week sohaven't had a chance. I only have postcards with pics of the UK on, will a regular card do?

Thanks, Grockle, but we're only doing the U. S. She was quite adamant about that.

You don't even need a postcard, kickass, just a small note works just fine if it has a little blurb about some fact about your state. It's called the Great American Mail Race, but it runs until the end of school, so no rush. It looks like between MN and RL the tally so far is DS: 14 states. The rest of the class: 2 states, so he appears to be "winning" right now. He's excited. Thanks, ladies.

Mailed a card today

Hi everyone

I've been lurking on and off for quite a while, but thought I'd introduce myself properly now that our move is signed off.

I'm Irish and my DH is American (from South Jersey just across the Delaware from Philly). We've been in London for years and have two DC - DS 2 and DD 7 weeks today . We've talked about moving to the States for a long time - want to move closer to family, are sick of big city living (loved London when I was single and then when it was just DH and me but it's not where we want to raise our DC).

Late last year DH's boss broached him about relocating to the Jersey City office and he jumped at the chance (his company will pay our moving costs, help with financial advice, put us up in temporary accommodation and the like), with the proviso that we wait til after I had the baby. Then I said I wanted to wait til after the Olympics (honestly, not that much of a sports fan but have lots of family visiting during the Olympics and just wouldn't want to miss it, after looking forward to it for ages!). So it looks like we'll be moving either August or Sept this year (still waiting to find out which is more likely).

We're looking at moving to somewhere on the train in Northern Jersey - South Orange/Maplewood/Summit looking good so far but still researching. DH will be working in Exchange Place, Jersey City, and we'd like the commute to be under an hour. I'll be going freelance and looking after the kids, which I'm excited about!

If anyone has any tips on good places in North Jersey let me know! And if anyone has any tips on moving in general too let me know. It's been really interesting to read others' experiences, especially Girlwithmouseyhair. DH lived in LA for years and says that there are some lovely areas, even if you have to drive to get to them. He particularly loved Mt Wilson for hiking and of course the beaches!

OK, ramble over!

Happy Mother's Day, all. DS came home with something they did at school that listed things about me. For the category of thing that I did best, he put doing the dishes.

dd did a card at brownies where they had to promise to do something for their mum on mother's day.

dd has said she will babysit the cats for me, so I can go out & leave her at home with them.

Wow, you guys are supremely awesome. I helped in school today and I got to see all of the cards and letters, finally. (She has only put a few of DS' up because he and another girl are the only ones that have gotten mail so far, so when more come in for other kids, then she'll tell the other kids he's got more and put them up)

For the MNer that asked, he does love baseball. His baseball team is halfway through their season right now, and they're undefeated, and usually winning their games by a lot, so he's quite enthusiastic about it. We're a big baseball family, anyway.

Hi Flip - I am in South Orange and used to do the commute to Jersey City by train. It is an easy 30min train ride to Hoboken followed by a short ride on the light rail.

I LOVE South Orange but there are a couple of downsides - mainly the property taxes ($10K/yr for a small house) but for me I hate the local supermarket so seem to drive 15mins to get to shoprite! I would look at Millburn/Maplewood as they have Trader Joes and Shoprite. South Orange/Maplewood share a lot of services including the school district.

I recommend looking at Millburn because I find myself heading there for the dentist, paediatrican, shoprite (best supermarket around here), trader joes (Owned by Aldi and provider of all chocolate and proper licorice in our home) and the vet. Summit has a great downtown too and Overlook is a great hospital. For South Orange you would be closer to St Barnabas hospital which is also very good.

Depending on what you want I would also consider Hoboken. It is urban but there are a lot of families. Also, Montclair and Westfield are lovely towns. Not sure of the commute to Jersey City though.

Aghh forgot to put a link to our local website. Here is our local website which covers South Orange, Maplewood, West Orange and Millburn (Short Hills is part of Millburn). Summit is mentioned on there but I rarely see anything for that area.

Hi Folks, new to the group, not been to MN in AGES!

We live in Las Vegas. Hubby is in the US Airforce so we are here for a few years, then off to the next posting. Hopefully Italy! Been here for a year and a half so far. Am pregnant with no. 2, have 1 DD who is 8 and in second grade here.

Nice to meet you all

xxx

Hi sharklet. DS is 8 and in 2nd grade, too.

Hello flipfantasia and sharklet. I am in Oregon like MmeBucket and have a 6 yr old dd, 4 yr old ds1 and 1 yr old ds2.

Glad your ds is getting a lot of cards MmeBucket. Still coming to Sunriver over Memorial Day?

Dd made me a card for mother's day saying she liked me because I baked even when I didn't want to!

Crashed our car this week. All my fault and thousands in damage but noone was hurt. Then the washing machine broke this morning. Please God, nothing goes wrong with dh's flight back from Sweden tonight.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

I forgot about that, Tad. One of the other families had to back out, another one didn't really care one way or the other, and they added an extra day to spring break from the DC's school, and that meant they took away the day off on the Friday before Memorial Day, so we decided to back out, too, since it became a school day, and no longer a 4 day weekend.

Sorry to hear about your car. I'm glad that nobody was hurt.

Want2be thank you for that info! V useful . I'm already a fan of TJ's and Shoprite (due to many visits to in-laws in South Jersey - my FIL is somewhat of a supermarket aficionado and will happily discuss the upsides and downsides of Wegmans/Shoprite/TJs/Wholefoods...). The property taxes do look utterly mental - we'll be renting initially but will have to face it when we buy. We've talked about Hoboken, as my SIL (who lives in Brooklyn) has some friends there with young kids, but we've got the urban thing in London and want something different (ie space!). But I do want to be able to walk & bike some places with the kids, as in I don't want to have to hop in the car for absolutely everything (as we do at the PILs).

Tad & MmeBucket I would love to visit Oregon someday. I have an old friend in Bend and another in Portland and hope they stay there long enough for us to visit!

Hope everyone else is well. We're just back from a weekend in Ireland visiting family - DD's first trip there! It was fun but knackering. And DD had her 8 week jabs today. Time is passing too fast!