Found a very cheap and big flat, as some of you might know, with a huge garden, and it needs a lot of work.
Good things are it is in a nice leafy street, has plenty of room for children to run round indoors and out, is rather lovely and un modernised, and will be further from my mother - currently we are too near and it's difficult. Also as I said it's really cheap which is good. We would be free to be messy and also to put our stamp on it. I think it could be great.
I could watch the children outside from inside iyswim, which I can't now.
No stairs, I hate stairs with a young baby.
Bad things are, it needs a lot of work (it's a total heap inside) but I enjoy that - though it means I'll be busy with it instead of with my two children, and I don't want to be too busy to play with them. (guilty of focussing too much on house etc in the past )
It's further from many of our friends too, but not prohibitively - just means a drive rather than a walk, or a long walk maybe.
It hasn't any swings or playing fields near it, but countryside is a short walk away, more farmland than the playing space we have this side of town though. (Plus the swings we have this end are pretty horrid anyway).
Further from school, if ds goes - we might be HEing, not sure yet. Couldn't walk from there, could at a push from here.
Not sure if other children in the street. (Not many here though either)
Next door is a rehab house for mental health patients. (fairly contained, but some swearing etc can be heard from over the wall)
It'll cost a lot to heat - old boiler, high ceilings. (Looking into energy grant but might not cover the heating system)
The main thing is I'm afraid of screwing up ds by moving, he's never really known another house, and seems a bit tearful/playing up about it.
I think I'm doing it to avoid other issues or worries I have. I love moving though it is stressful, and tend to dive into choosing curtains when I should be playing with the kids and thinking about what is really best for us all.
Help...what should we do?