Anonymous wrote:I lived in Israel age 7 to 10 and it was fabulous and life changing. Because of it I have a lifelong affinity for learning languages and cultures and made a career of it.

Also, I hate to say it — I love America but our child rearing culture is broken. In Israel I was able to walk to friends houses alone, go to playground and the mall with my friends without oversight, take myself to school on public transit. When we moved back to the US I felt immediately stifled. I think your kids will grow to love their independence in Europe.

I know my experience is not universal... I have friends who moved abroad at the same age and had a really hard time with it. But I still think it’s very worthwhile.

When was this? I did all these things when I wads a kid in the 80s and 90s in the US. But it is definitely different now.

I've lived in 5 countries and 10 different cities and I cannot recommend it highly enough. However, I only started moving around at age 16 and my childhood friends are my closest friends to this day. I also stayed friends with college and grad school friends and think it was important to stay put for the four years in undergrad and the 2+5 years of grad school. My point is that I think it's important to have good chunks of your life with the same community. I think geographic location is less important.

I lived in London when I was young, from age two to six. We had a lot of friends there and visited once or twice a year after we came back to America. I ended up marrying a Brit and I’ve lived in England for the past eleven years, so it had quite an effect!

Another military brat. I lived in Panama and Europe as a child and returned to Europe for my bachelor's degree. I still speak passable Frenc qnd I am now 40. Honestly, it was a wonderful experience, lots of travel and learning about people. My spouse and I would jump at a chance to move abroad and take our kids. I am highly educated in a niche field, so I probably would be able to find work.

I lived in Germany, in a small town, outside of Stuttgart. Amazing experience. I was in grades 2, 3 and 4. We traveled a lot on weekends and I learned to ski in the Swiss Alps. It was a great age to be there. I highly recommend it. We learned German, shopped in the local stores and made friends with the locals. It is what you make of it. I highly encourage it!

Lived abroad my whole life from birth to college - moved to 5 different countries. It was the best thing my parents ever did for me. I don’t regret it at all although there are hard things about it. OP, read any book or literature on Third Culture Kids to learn how this will affect your children. I am forty now.

I spent most of my childhood in East Africa back in the early eighties, due to my father's job. We got to travel all over the continent and I am still in touch with friends from that time. It was one of the happiest times of our lives.

I lived in Israel age 7 to 10 and it was fabulous and life changing. Because of it I have a lifelong affinity for learning languages and cultures and made a career of it.

Also, I hate to say it — I love America but our child rearing culture is broken. In Israel I was able to walk to friends houses alone, go to playground and the mall with my friends without oversight, take myself to school on public transit. When we moved back to the US I felt immediately stifled. I think your kids will grow to love their independence in Europe.

I know my experience is not universal... I have friends who moved abroad at the same age and had a really hard time with it. But I still think it’s very worthwhile.

Anonymous wrote:Because of Trump, Americans are universally hated. Your children will suffer because if this.

We lived in a nice part of Europe for the last four years (just recently returned to the DC area). Ignore this poster. So off. People are definitely curious, but your children will certainly not suffer.

My experience: my kids were 9 months, 3 and 6 when we moved. We had challenges of course, but it was the most wonderful experience for all of us. We traveled all over the place, and I hope my children never regret that we did this. They certainly seem to remember it fondly (at this point, they're still missing their old friends). The biggest issue for us was the fear of terrorism, which was intense in Europe while we were there.

Foreign service brat here. Lived overseas from birth to college. I think it's easier on the child the younger they are.

Adapting to foreign cultures/languages is easy for young kids, especially if their parents have a positive attitude about the country they're guests in. It's the re-entry back into US culture that can be difficult as the child may come back with an accent and different cultural referents.

In my case, I feel these experiences enhanced my life but I also have identity issues to this day and don't feel like I have a home anywhere. But that's based on moving every 3 years. Your experience will be different as you will be in one country only. It will feel like a wonderful adventure.