There are many benefits to moving a lot as a child, but for all the great and strong character-building things about it, there are some serious downfalls.
Let’s not dwell on them, but let’s at least acknowledge them.
Where do we start?
1. You're at a new school.
So you just moved, which means you’re at a new school.
You’re either trying to play catch up with your new class or trying to keep busy if you're ahead of the new course.
I mean, why are we all on different schedules? We just moved within the same country. Shouldn’t our nation be on the same page, education-wise?
Nope. Never.
Even if you move to a different city within the same state, you’re never going to be on the same learning schedule as the last school you were in.
2. You have no friends.
Well, I’m glad all that time I spent being charismatic and amazing with my friends was for nothing.
It’s time to start all over again.
After you do this multiple times, it gets a little annoying. In fact, you can start to feel like you don’t want to reach out anymore.
Why bother being amazing and outgoing when you’re just going to get up and move away from them again?
Cue introvert development.
3. There's no boy next door.
What happens when you move away from the boy next door? He was so close, but then you had to move.
I mean, seriously? He was within our grasp. We were plotting!
Thanks, parents. You just ruined the one shot I had with my soulmate.
Unless you're a master of keeping in touch (and hey, you’ve moved a lot, so you very well might be), there’s an excellent chance you'll lose contact with that crush.
Or you can try the long-distance thing. Maybe it will work for you.
But what if it doesn’t?
Then, there’s that whole bothersome “trust” thing when your significant other is hundreds of miles away.
4. There are too many boys next door.
All right, so you get the chance to have multiple boys next door.
You have multiple chances of living out a fairytale, but you never get to stick around long enough for anything to actually come to fruition.
How are you supposed to create a meaningful relationship with someone when you're barely around long enough to become acquaintances with him?
5. You have so many messages to respond to.
You either become an amazing pen pal or lose touch with everyone.
You either spend a significant chunk of your time writing people back, or you don’t have time to keep up with every message you receive.
This means, eventually, people fall by the wayside, and you lose touch with them.
Sure, you might see them on social media and like their statuses or pictures, but you aren’t really “friends” with them anymore.
That’s sad, but I can’t tell you the number of “best friends” I have lost touch with because of distance.
In this day and age, when we can connect so easily, it’s really sad.
6. Your best friends are often not in the same city, state or continent you're in.
You get to watch them go out and have fun (thanks, social media), and you feel jealous and sad you aren’t with them.
Sure, they can look at your pictures and think, "Wow. You’re out having fun."
But now, you’re out having fun with strangers they don’t know.
You get to watch your friends go out with your other friends and enjoy that group dynamic you used to be a part of.
It gives you all the feels.
While there are probably plenty more downfalls of moving around a lot as a child, there are also a lot of perks.
It’s important to remember and appreciate both the benefits and downfalls of what helped build your character and turn you into the person you are today.
