We have been living the Suburbanites dream. Our little family of four has been living in a comfortable house in the Suburbs with a big back yard and plenty of trees. There’s a park around the corner and the kids can walk to school. The neighbours are nice enough, we know their names and the names of their dogs. That’s good enough for me. Or it was, until a big fat FOR SALE sign went up across the street.
I jokingly mentioned to my sister that she and her Hubby should go have a peek at that little brick house across the street with the big fat FOR SALE sign. So, they did?! (Um since when do little sisters listen to big sisters? I am powerful!)
Suddenly there were visions of spontaneous coffee visits, open door policies for nieces and nephews, Christmas where we could shuffle the old folks back and forth across the street. A warm glow of all that could be began to grow in my heart. The Suburbs are “nice”, but how comforting would it be to have someone you love right across the road? People we could count on, people who would look out for us and our kids. A best friend built right into the neighbourhood. The benefits of built in family without them being built right in. The Suburbs may be great even if they are a little stuck-up and snobby sometimes but with a new exciting injection of family…it could be so much more!
Could there, would there be a downside to this? My sister living across the street? Nah. It’s not like we would be sharing back yards.
Apparently Sis felt the same because she put on offer on that house!
We loosely discussed drop in rules. We giggled at all the possibilities that lay ahead. I was all kinds of excited.
Went away for the weekend. Came home to a SOLD sign….
but
it wasn’t THEIR sold sign. Sigh.
I am more disappointed then I care to admit.
Who is the sneaky bitch monkey who swooped in and bought my sisters house?
There goes my dream of a utopian neighbourhood.
At least until the next house goes up for sale!
Love you Sis.
Now PLEASE go ahead and tell me it was for the best! Someone must have some family “lives too close” horror stories to share!
Linky love! Double giveaway. Open to US and Canada. Best Vitamins for kids ever, but I take them too:)
I’ve always wanted my husband’s family to live closer…but not mine. 🙂
Hmmm, I could see having family that close losing its appeal very quickly! Hopefully your new neighbours are really nice though. 🙂
Shucks! That would have been cool. I don’t have an horror story. I grew up DIRECTLY NEXT DOOR to my mom’s brother’s family with my cousins. It was really fun for the kids.
You never know, the sale could fall through, they could move rather soon. Or, you could move to where your sister is 🙂
What a bummer! And in this buyer’s market!
Hope the next house in the neighborhood is hers!
Oh, that would have been so nice!
There does have to be a downside, somewhere.
Or maybe another house will go up for sale near you?
It might be nice to have a sister living across the street. But, I definitely have horror stories about living next door to my in-laws. You really don’t want to go there.
It was probably for the best. 🙂 That open door policy would eventually become a pain in the rear…kids that aren’t yours going in and out at random times, never leaving you alone, never giving you any privacy…and possibly bringing Lord knows who to your house with them…
It would be so much fun to have a sibling as a neighbor! Assuming the siblings get along, I guess.
Aw, I feel your disappointment. Every time a house goes up for sale on my block, or even my neighborhood, I mention it to my sister!!
For the best, for the best, for the best. Sometimes there is too close. Its nice to have a little something for yourself me thinks, even if it is just your own street.
it would be nice if my sis is next door. ah… too bad.
I’ve never had to worry about family living to close since I moved out at 18 so I can’t tell you it would be a bad thing. BUT, my good friend lived two houses down from her mother-in-law……..let’s just say it had its ups and its downs and leave it at that.
I would have burned my house if my SIL were moving within a mile of me! LOL
Omg, that would have been SO COOL!!
I live close to family, I totally love it.
I have 3 sisters (and 2 brothers) I am super tight with two of my sisters and would LOVE if they lived less than an hour away, but same neighborhood, I don’t think so.
One of my sister’s lives within miles of our parents and her live-in boyfriend’s parents and while it does make holiday travel easy, there is also a sort of unspoken obligation to visit often and because of the frequency, boundaries are often crossed.