FLTC: I vowed that my children would not have to move from their house, our dream house. On the day we split (happened suddenly) Ashley cried and cried "Please don't make me move from my house" - a lot of guilt to put on a parent.
So we stayed. And I perservered. And I watched all my savings go down the tubes - it had a mortgage, high taxes, tons of upkeep...
5 years later with little warning I bought another house. A smaller house but still in the same neighbourhood (less traumatic for Ashley who didn't want to change schools). She didn't think she was going to like her room (too small she said). Brandon (middle son) asked me if I'd lost my mind (because I acted quickly). More like I just came to my senses after digging in so hard to NOT lose the house.
The new house is perfect. No, it doesn't have a pool. Or as many rooms. But there are not as many of us either. And Ashley's room actually turned out to be bigger than her previous one. And I made a little tv room in the basement for her and her friends to hang out. And I let her decorate her room any way she wanted (paint is cheap).
I don't miss the house at all - too many bad memories. And Ashley has said the same. There are THINGS she misses about it but mostly - she remembers the fighting. And there is no fighting in the new house.
