I like our house. We have lived here for nearly thirteen years and three of my children have never known any different and they love this house too. It is a three storey townhouse which is one of three that faces away from the rest of the cul-de-sac and it is ridiculously quiet most of the time. There is a small woodland area just in front which is perfect for the kids to go out and run off some steam and the area is quiet and quite safe for them to roam on their bikes and scooters. The garden is the thing we love the most as when we bought the house, although the garden was really tiny, there was a strip of land at the side, so once we settled in, we extended the garden and so it is a really good size for this type of house and over the years, it has been such a blessing to have the space for the boys in particular to play football and rugby.
We have enough space just about. It is crammed full of furniture and stuff and we often moan that it isn’t really big enough, but it is. It is a bit like the story A Squash and a Squeeze, if we took a lot of the ‘stuff’ away, we would have more than enough space. The children all have their own room and with three toilets, there is no problem there. There is a dining room which we use as a study come spare bedroom and large kitchen diner which is where eI seem to spend most of my time.
My husband is one of these people that always has to have a scheme. A good friend of mine once described him as a person that can’t park ideas and she was so right. Along with moving to another part of the country, emigrating and various other ‘schemes’, he has always been very preoccupied with moving house. Don’t get me wrong, he loves this house too, he just loves the idea of living in a more rural environment.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this. I can see the huge benefits of living in the country (when I say ‘country’, I mean a village, not a house in the middle of nowhere), I regularly drive through some really stunning villages with the most beautiful houses and they always seem so quiet and tranquil. This would be a lovely environment to bring children up in and I would love to live somewhere where the children had lots of wide open spaces to play and less traffic to contend with when they are out on their bikes. The other side of village life is the accessibility to amenities like shops and surgeries which not all villages have. Then there is the darkness. Having always lived
The other side of village life is the accessibility to amenities like shops and surgeries which not all villages have. I would miss being able to pop to the local supermarket whenever I needed to. Then there is the darkness. Having always lived with the luxury of street lights, I’m not sure how I would cope without them. In fact, I am pretty sure I would not be able to. I also know that for all of the benefits of country living, now the boys are getting older, they want to be in town, they want to be able to go and hang out with their mates. I’m pretty sure that country life would consist of me ferrying the children even more than I do already to clubs, town and friend’s houses.
Selling your home is a huge decision and one that we would all need to be happy with. For the time being at least, we will be staying put in our family house but that won’t stop my husband constantly looking at property sales and estate agent windows dreaming of his perfect house in the country.
