Sorry to hear...
One more thing to consider, that nobody seemed to bring up, is the issue of starting over with your love-life, building a new relationship...

From that perspective, CH may not be the best place, because of the Old World values attached to divorce (stigmatizing divorced people..). Also, there are a lot less social outlets for people in their 30-s or 40-s... If I had to start over again, I would do it in the US where divorce is considered more "normal" (hell, with a 50%divorce rate...) and nothing to be ashamed of. Especially in CA you might find a lot more "good catches" for whom you'll be the first wife...

I am rambling here, but I grew up in Europe and also spent 6 years in CA, so I can tell that the rebound seems to be much quicker in the US, and my European divorced/widowed girlfriends and family members are mostly bitter and alone.... And maybe a good rebound is what you really need. I know that it may be too early for you to even think about someone else, but you definitely should not waste your grey matter thinking about your ex... And trust me, with a happy mom, your Little Ones will be happy also.

it is really, really hard to help you over the internet with such an issue and I am below 30, no kids, so take my words with caution....

there are two main things: staying where you are means you have a lot of back up social system, you know the people, the mentality, you have the contacts, that makes it easier to get into contact with a new potential relationship

on the other hand, a new locations forces you to meet new people, to go places and it can be refreshing to cut some ties.

I would try and make a change, but not such a radical one. Not only because of the stuff above, but also because of the sheer amount of practical issues that you have to solve in such a big move (new house, schools, paperworks....). Maybe you can move but stay inside US? or to canada?

GOOD LUCK!

Hi,
This was posted a long time ago for what I see, but I wanted to know if you ended up moving to CH and how is life as a single mom??
I am recently separated with a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old and thinking about moving to CH.
Hope everything has worked out well

The person who started this Thread hasn't been on here for nearly two years so we have no idea what happened.

I wouldn't think Switzerland to be an ideal place to be a single Mum at the best of times - the school system alone makes going out to work very complicated; assistance is available for those really in need, but money is not passed over very freely. The language is a problem and without family and friends I, for one, wouldn't want to try it here.

You've not even heard his side of the story and lets be quite honest, takes 2 to tango in any marrige, the fault is NEVER on one side or the other, more usual is 50/50.

Lucky his money isn't a "toxic mess-and-a-half"

You're wasting your time mate. Some of those folk who wrote in the Thread in 2009 haven't been on here for two years - doesn't anyone read my posts?

Please miss, please miss!!!! I do!!!


But then, I'm probably one of a dying bre

This thread may be two years old but the topic remains oh so current.

I may only have the one daughter but otherwise the description reflects my own marital chaos to a T. And you may believe it takes two to tango but I now have found out that that is not always the case. My husband honestly says that he had already started falling out of love with me before the wedding but didn't want to admit it. Ten years later he had started a relationship with a 10 year younger version of me (well physically anyway) and deserted my daughter and I for two months with barely a cent to rub together. So I kicked him out.

He went on to tell me it had never been any of my fault, but that he had just missed that spark!

Today I just wish he had of been honest with me back then. I'm not really a catch any more...

Basically though, this Thread was not about single parents as such, but the question of whether it would be a good idea to come back here as a single parent to live with two small children. And for that, as the posters said, without a good base of friends and relatives here, Switzerland is not top of the list.

True True, got carried away, sorry.

I could have gone home but chose to stay in CH simply because I think it is a better environment for the kids. Sure the school thing sucks when you are trying to work, but that I can deal with.
The reality that kids back home aren't even encouraged to walk to school, play in the woods, go on bike ride outings etc ( and I won't even start on crime) made me choose here because at the end of the day a single mom is still a single mom but a childhood can only be lived once.

I wouldn't be here as a single mom though if I didn't have a great and supportive network of friends. No one can do 'raising a family' alone. Its hard enough for a couple on their own!

Plus I also have to admit that I feel more comfortable here. I so get SingleMom's comment about the people being 'too american'