If you search for the term “Third Culture Kid”, you’ll find a whole slew of articles about the challenges kids face when moving abroad. While I won’t discount that those challenges exist, these are some of the reasons I love raising my American kid abroad.
1. (Lack of) Gun Culture
This is sadly a very American problem, but I was keenly aware that gun culture in America is unlikely to change anytime soon and I didn’t want to keep my child in that environment. Here in the UK, I don’t have to listen to my 1st grade child proudly tell me that her class was the quietest during the “safety drill”. That was her first school training for an active shooter.
Life here is not perfectly safe, and I still worry about my daughter every day. However, the prevalence of gun violence is at least one thing I can take off the list of worries.
2. Time to Travel as a Family
5+ weeks of paid annual leave that we are actually encouraged to take means that we have so much more time open to us for travel or just spending time together as a family. For my child, the work/life balance here also means that she gets full attention from both of her parents because we aren’t fielding work calls during our time off. I also prefer that she not grow up with the example that work responsibilities are the top priority.
3. Learning From Our Differences
Moving to a new country has made my daughter more tolerant of differing viewpoints and ways of going through life. While I suspect that the UK is less diverse since Brexit, there are still opportunities in the UK to travel and experience cultures less similar to her own. She has also been challenged simply by the many small things in the UK that are different from the life she had in California.
4. Recognizing the Value of Things
It makes little sense to pack up your entire house when you move abroad. This has also been true for my daughter’s belongings. While I don’t recommend arbitrarily trashing all of your child’s treasures, the exercise of deciding what really matters is good for children too. Even as a 4-year-old she helped pick her must-have items and what felt good to her to donate.
5. The Power of Being an Outsider
Being the American child in the UK is a challenge and a benefit. My daughter has been idolized and ridiculed simply for her accent. She’s been asked if she knows any movie stars and how many guns she has at home. She doesn’t have the option to just blend in, which at times is tough.
However, her outside perspective leads her to question things her classmates simply accept and has made her much more tolerant of others who don’t easily fit in. She also enjoys a certain amount of notoriety from those around her that still think America and Hollywood are synonymous.
My daughter may return to the US someday or not. Either way, I know that she is glad for the experience of living abroad. I certainly am glad to be living this experience with her.
Baffled by the UK school system? Check out my guide to finding the right school in the UK!
