zoetheexplorer's Profile

Great post...you are so point about how people react when you say the words "we are renting."

I grew up in Mission District of SF until I was about 12, then my parents moved me to a school out into the suburbs because they felt like it was what people kept pressuring them was 'the right thing to do'. They actually put in the effort to make me commute 40 minutes away from SF just so I can go to a "beautiful school with grass surrounding it, and a great academic program." I was miserable for a long time because of the difference between the kids I had grown up with and the kids who grew up in the quiet and quaint town out in the East Bay. I had no real problems growing up in the city, but I think my parents felt like the kids around me were growing up too fast, and that moving to the suburbs would be a nice slow paced & kid-friendly environment. Boy, were they wrong. I found myself behind the times...I was still enjoying the monkey bars while the kids I met out there were already talking about boyfriends and picking on me for not wearing trendy or tight enough clothes. Nobody has to agree with me, but upon my personal observation and experience, the kids out in the quiet areas were bored and had nothing much to see or do, so a lot of their attention went to being flirty and struggling to feel considered cool.

I personally plan on raising kids in SF because I want them to be well-rounded and thoroughly experienced...sheltering them does nothing for their brains, and will not build the tough skin our children need to have these days.