(edit title) Job Offer - Moving from UK to Sweden with Fiance And little one, advice sought Options

[California Girl]

Many who decide to relocate to Sweden do so because one of the partners is Swedish! In your instance you are asking your partner to move with you because of your career (I ... (show full quote)

Many who decide to relocate to Sweden do so because one of the partners is Swedish! In your instance you are asking your partner to move with you because of your career (I am assuming). This my friend is a recipe for disaster.. sorry not trying to be negative. ... (hide full quote)

For what it's worth, we moved here because of my husband's job. Neither of us had any connection to Sweden before the move, and it had never even crossed our minds to move to Sweden before the job came up. As a country, it simply wasn't on our radar. However, I found I didn't have any particular difficulty adjusting to life in Sweden. Moving away from friends and family is hard, regardless of whether it involves moving to another country or a few hundred miles away. Many of the same coping mechanisms are required to adjust to the new environment. In some ways, I found Sweden easier to adjust to with kids than some other places.

However, whether or not it can work out depends entirely on the personalities involved, in my experience. We've always had the mind-set that we had to follow the job, where ever that might lead us. It's meant a lot of international moves over the years, and learning how to cope with each new environment without strong social support in the form of friends and families. It's quite doable, but requires careful thought and an understanding of what that kind of move involves.

[COrtengren01]

I moved to Stockholm 2 months ago with my Swedish husband and our 2 1/2 year old. It was a move that we didn't have planned particularly so it has been difficult in some respects as we had to leave a lot behind so if you have the use of a relocation agent then use them BUT I have to agree that you should take some of what they say about employment with a pinch of salt. Even for English speaking rolls she will need some Swedish. She should be able to claim the equivalent of child benefit which is a bit more than you get in the UK. As soon as you have an address in Stockholm you should put the childs name down on the list for Dagis (daycare) My little boy used to be in nursery 4 days a week and he loved playing with other children but since coming to Stockholm we have had to wait for a place (thankfully he was offered a place today!) It is important not only for your child but for your partner to feel like this is a positive change in her life and so making sure that the childs routine is settled as quickly as possible will help. She can also join SFI to learn Swedish for free. This can be done in the evenings or through the day, it will not only help with learning the language (it is an intense course) but she will meet other people in the same situation. There is also an English playgroup if she wants some English speaking company on a friday afternoon! http://www.hogalidhedgehogs.com/ they have a facebook group and there is a site called meetup she can join and people post things up there about places to go, parties, events. But it is important to learn the language!!

YES it can be difficult,stressful,and lonely and YES it is more expensive than the UK for a lot of things like groceries and clothing so you will need to get over that pretty quickly but things like parking for local attractions are free Drottningholm palace for example has free parking and is somewhere you can take a picnic, and have a family day out for nothing! If/when you come over id be happy if you wanted to drop me a line- how old is the little one?

All the best, I hope it all works out for you all.