Comments on: Town Mouse, Country Mouse

By: Annette Piper

Annette Piper — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:14:24 +0000

I’m a country mouse – but I like to visit my cousins in town occasionally

I’ve given you an award Cath, pop into my blog at http://annettepiperjewellery.blogspot.com/2009/07/some-housekeeping.html to collect !

Cheers
Annette

By: Best of Both Worlds - SquiggleMum

Best of Both Worlds - SquiggleMum — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:49:47 +0000

[...] grasp on her wool straight from the sheep’s back all day. I have shared a lot lately about raising city kids, and this was a chance for me to give my kids a little bit of [...]

By: KDL

KDL — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:15:44 +0000

I’m a suburb mouse. 20 minutes to a big city by car, 10 minutes or less to open space. Great schools! I love that we occasionally see cows, wild turkeys, and deer (tho’ hubby is not happy to find them in the yard). We love it here, and the only downside is the cost of living is high. Thank God for a husband who loves his work.

By: Bec

Bec — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:02:24 +0000

I’ve often fantasized about running away to join the circus…ehm I mean to live in the country. I kind of like the idea of cows, not sure I’d like to own one–maybe if they came in miniature and Erin could ride it to school.

By: cath

cath — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:02:38 +0000

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. It’s so lovely to hear the great things about where you have chosen to raise your kids. I don’t think I won the debate for city mums on air because I know there are so many wonderful things about raising kids in the country!

By: Peace Mitchell

Peace Mitchell — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:59:02 +0000

I’m a country mouse and I love where I live I can see the ocean from my house, we go to the beach all the time and there’s rainforest all around, if we want to we can be at a tropical coral island in just thirty minutes.

I would love a larger library (and am working to help make this happen!) and would love to be able to give my children more opportunities to see live theatre but really love our choice to live where we do.

Nice article Catherine!

By: Janmary, N Ireland

Janmary, N Ireland — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:01:59 +0000

I probably have the best of both worlds – our main home on edge of a large town. Walking distance if great schools. Town has cinema, pool, arts centre, close to capital.

Then up at our holiday cottage – total change of tempo. No schedules, no pressure. Though in N Ireland never possible to be too far away from anyone – nearest shop 2 miles, nearest pub 1 mile! Major town and large supermakets 11 miles. Nearest traffic light – 6 miles!!!

By: Sandra @ {mum space}

Sandra @ {mum space} — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:33:50 +0000

I was a town mouse but late last year we made the move to rural NSW. It has been a great move for us. It meant I didn’t have to go back to work and my husband gets to spend a lot more time with our children. Although I am still getting used to not having so many conveniences just a step away and there’s not as much happening in the arts and culture arenas. Our children are really happy here so that has made it a right decision for our family. And it’s a lot closer to my family which is nice.

By: Lizzie @ Lizzie's Home

Lizzie @ Lizzie's Home — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:31:28 +0000

I’ve lived rural as a child, semi-rural as a teen, suburban as an adult and quite possibly by the time I get to retirement age I might be living in the CBD! LOL.

As I mentioned in Twitter, we kind of have to live in suburbia at the moment as it is close to otherwise sorely-lacking facilities and programs for our autistic son (just one example: special small classes within mainstream schools – such as the class Jay attends – are virtually non-existent in rural areas)

That said, I remember with a LOT of fondness the years we spent on a hobby farm as a kid. We had cows, our own full size green houses, chickens, a dam to catch yabbies in, and we could walk for miles and build as many cubbies (forts for the Americans, LOL) as we liked. Almost 20 years later I could tell you about a half a dozen secret little enclaves I played in, the rocky outcrop up the hill that had a freakish arrangement not unlike a table and chairs (many a picnic was held there), the creek we paddles in, the willow tree I claimed as my own and whose tendrils I weaved into baskets. See, I’m all nostalgic now, LOL.

A country upbringing for a child really is an awesome experience, and one I’d probably have tried to replicate for our own kids if it wasn’t for Jay’s issues and the fact that Talented Hubby’s job is 100% contingent on where his organization has the jobs. I mean, we *could* put in for a transfer (forgetting Jay’s needs for a sec) but then things start getting very tricky re work and promotion opportunities…for example, there are certain areas within his organization that don’t operate out of suburbia, or at least not anything like on the level he’s currently involved in. So, yeah, tricky.

I do encourage whoever has the means and the inclination to do so, to try some time in the country while the kids are young. The sense of community in small country towns is utterly different to the cursory ‘hi’ you get at the supermarket in the city, you know? Some might find the ‘everybody knows everybody’ thing tiresome after a spell but honestly, country folk rally around their fallen like nothing I’ve EVER seen before…tends not to happen that way in the city

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:08:22 +0000

All we can do is make the most of what surrounds us at the time, we never know where we will be from one year to the next. If we are lucky enough we have friends all over so we can experience a bit of it all.