May Be Relocating to Wisconsin!

Oh L., I feel your pain. I too was relocated to Madison but without a child. When my boyfriend/now husband was relocated for his job. I do have to say though, Madison is a WONDERFUL family oriented place to live. Money tight you say, they have wonderful programs at the library and children's museum that I believe are either free or inexpensive. Also depending on where you live I'm sure the local park district has programs. I know for a fact that the school's in Madison are wonderful. I was working with several mom's who raved about some of the things the schools did with kids wether it was in a daycare facility or regular school. I'm confident you will love Madison. Missing family may be a problem but think about it this way...you are only 2 1/2 hours away. The drive is not very scenic but if you plan it around a nap time...it's a really nice QUITE drive :)
If you need some contacts in Madison just email me and I can get some more information for you. Good luck and don't worry, Madison is great.

Madison seems to be "THE place" to live; I know many people who've lived there and loved it and only moved ot Chicago because of work.

I think in this psycho winter we'll be having you'll see people outside sledding with their kids or shoveling snow and oyu'll meet them that way... not to mention free activities like through church or whatever...

One thing you can do (I had a friend do this and was very successful) is to have a holiday party and send a flyer to all your neighbours in the surrounding blocks, and invite them. Say in the flyer you're a new neighbour and want to get to know people. My friend did this in Polo Illinois because she wasn't used to farm country where neighbours are so far away you can't just see them when you go out to get your mail like in Chicago-- and she made friends with the whole town at her Christmas party!

Another suggestion (I have a friend who immigrated to Canada with no money and did this one) is to volunteer. If it is at all possible to do so, having a child and all, then volunteer places and you'll meet people. There might be things you can do out of your house, like if you get involved with your political party of choice maybe you can make phone calls, or write a newsletter for some organization... volunteering is doing good deeds and it's free and you meet lots of people that way.

As soon as you meet people, try to arrange your own mom's group-- have guests over as often as possible to form friendship bonds quickly. Dinner, tea, dessert-- those things are fairly cheap to make and share with others.

I wish my Madison friends still lived there so I could put you in touch with them as well. Good luck!

Hi L.,

I think you should go along with your husband and make it work. Be supportive and accomodating..You can always see your parents and others..It sounds like you could use a change anyway. Be happy and enjoy this adventure..

So funny - we FREQUENTLY think about leaving the Chicago area and moving to Madison. In fact - my brother-in-law and his family will be relocating soon and I'm very jealous that they are taking the plunge. Start reading up about the many, many wonderful things Madison has to offer. I sent away for a relocation packet from one of the realty companies up there and they sent me AN ENTIRE BOX of stuff, and it made it sound very appealing....I spoke with with a woman who lives up there and I said, seriously what's the catch - tell me something negative?!?!...she had a hard time coming up with something. There is just an amazing progressive, community-oriented, family-friendly spirit there, without lots of the hassle of the greater Chicagoland area...for example, their "rush hour" means that you might have to drive for 5 extra minutes :) You will find "your people" - be it via UW, place of worship, etc...I'm sure there are lots of free or nearly-free opportunities for you and your little one (the library, for example, sounds amazing)....knowing you will be missing your family remember - they are only 2.5 hours away by car - totally day-trip-able...or meet up halfway in Rockford or something. But it would be a great place to be, even for a short time...good luck! Also, you can join the Mamasource.com Madison board (enter the zipcode from up there) and post this same question. I'm sure many many Madison moms would be happy to sing it praises for you and get you very very excited for the opportunity.

We relocated to WI in Dec 2005 and by April 2006, we were back in Chicago.

We bought a house there and only live in it for 4 months!

My experience is that WI is nice to visit, but not so much to live there.

Good luck in your adventure. Hopefully it works for you and your family.

Madison is a great town. I went to college there and have several friends who grew up there. It is a great place for families. Excellent schools. A good amount of diversity, good restaurants, old homes, smart people, young people, etc. And it is mellow. And cold in the winter and wonderful in the summer. You'll get used to it - and it is only 2 1/2 hours from Chicago Easy breezy. Plus your family will love to come and visit you.