Sunday, 19 January 2014

family business. skipping with kids

So, Katie and Rosie seem pretty determined to send “all the single ladies” - and all you “middle-aged-with-no-attachments-dudes” too  - off to far-flung countries. It’s for your own good, people!

And they apparently claim that guts is all it takes. You are ready for it, we know it...and you know it, so moooove and skip the country people! What are you waiting for?

Leave some room for us on your planes though.

We, the forty-somethings, with family and baggage attached, might want a piece of the cake too, you know?

Take me, for example. I have skipped back and forth a few times, and old habits die hard… 
My conscience: But, wait a minute...don't you have kids, a mortgage, a relatively stable job?

My inner skipper: So what? Is this the end of my journey then? Or the end of my wife’s journey, even with a new career path to explore? Is this it for our kids? Don´t you think that perhaps our kids could totally benefit from experiencing different cultures, learning new languages...

Conscience: What if they don´t like the changes…?

Skipper: Even if that means a bit of discomfort at the beginning, making new friends should not be a problem and they will be settled down and speaking a foreign language before we know it. In no time at all, they’ll have stopped looking back,  and hopefully they’ll thank us in the future for taking the right decision.

Imagine what it would be like for them to grow up as skippers…Five years here, five years there…I know that sounds a bit extreme, but why not?

Conscience: Hold on a minute! If you skip, everybody will think you are crazy…

Skipper:  Your life shouldn't be dictated by society’s rules, by what others might think is “the right thing to do”. You and your family are the only ones to make that call, and the best ones to know what you want to live and stand for.

As long as you all understand that, and as a family agree together, on what you want to achieve by skipping, you are ready for your life’s next chapter.

Conscience:
Alright, alright! I give up. One last question...what if the kids don't want to go?

Skippers: I knew you’d bring that up.
The answer is simple...you pull out the trump card.

I AM YOUR FATHER!

Let the force be with you, skipper families ;)
Written by : Gus

Got a question for us? Want to share your own experiences? 
Drop us an email at howtoskipthecountry@gmail.com or add a comment below - we’d love to hear from you.

1 comment:

  1. Confident, healthy small children with two happy parents move easily - a snip. Weirdly though, even well-adjusted adult children completely flip when their aging parents move. Odd.

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