babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
When the Italian Sabbatical is Not La Dolce Vita
The simple answer to that question? When you have kids.
Author Nina Burleigh’s move to Italy to pen a book about the Amanda Knox trial sounds glamorous to all (yes, me included), but in a thoughtful piece in Double X, the author and journalist makes the point easily forgotten: Moving American kids abroad can really suck.
Even when their new friends think they’re cool as they look “through the Hannah Montana, Hollywood lens.” Even when they’ve got two loving parents and the “chance of a lifetime.”
I appreciated Burleigh’s (full disclosure – I have interviewed her before in person) piece for not pulling the “pity, poor me, I get a European sabbatical . . . and it’s so rough on me!” attempt I’ve read countless times before. She admits it – on a personal level, she’s having a pretty good time.
Her kids, on the other hand . . . are trying:
“Apparently you can’t just drop children into a new language and have them quickly “soak it up” as I had imagined. On the contrary, it feels like I am committing a form of child abuse.”
The European experience can be fantastic for kids, and the chance to absorb another language not only rare but important in a global economy. Their minds – and tongues – are more pliable at that age; language immersion has been tested as best for learning. Hence all that gushing when we hear a family is moving overseas – that “chance of a lifetime” talk.
But the average American will move almost twelve times in their life (a number that’s dropped off a bit since the economy took a dive). Moving with your kids for a job isn’t easy when you’re talking town to town, state to state. There are new friends to make, new terms to learn (grinder, sub, hero?). Moving your whole family to another country? No one is that resilient – don’t kid yourself.
It’s OK to cut these families a little slack – they aren’t asking for your pity, just a little empathy.
I’d still like an Italian sabbatical. But the polish is off that apple until the kid hits eighteen.
Image: Enchanted Learning
More by this author:
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0