Moving to Minnesota with Kids: The Scooter Strategy Doesn't Work

It was every parent's worst nightmare. We moved to the Twin Cities at the beginning of the summer in 2024, hoping to give our kids time to adjust and make friends before school started. We chose a house in a neighborhood chock full of kids, thinking that would make it easier. Boy were we wrong.

Our daughter was a 9-year-old extrovert who desperately wanted to make new friends. As an out-of-touch Xennial who moved a lot as a kid, my instinct was to tell her to just spend some time outside, ride your scooter around a few times, and it'll happen naturally.

The first day, she made…

three loops around the neighborhood circle on her scooter…

then three more…

then a couple more…

then three more the next day…

and the next…

for weeks…

Nothing happened.

We introduced her to kids when we met new families. Nothing. We went to the neighborhood playground regularly, but most of the kids were really young. She didn't make friends her age until she started school, which pretty much defeated the purpose of moving here early.

Then there was our son, our 11-year-old introvert, who took no approach at all. No walks around the neighborhood, no desperate scooter rides, nothing. Then Neighbors Night Out came around and we had a neighborhood block party. He met the kid next door, joined a scout group, and had a lunch table full of friends within weeks. He didn't try harder than his sister. He just landed in a structured group first.

Don't rely on geography. A neighborhood full of kids isn't a surefire way for a child to make friends. Don't rely on personality either. Our daughter is an extrovert, but apparently the social advantage that I as an introvert perceive as almost superhuman isn't a ticket to instant friendship.

Find a structured group. Sign your child up for at least one activity they really enjoy, preferably a group activity that starts before the new school year. If you can afford two and have the time to haul your kids around all day, even better. The Twin Cities has no shortage of options across every season, every interest, and every age group.

One more tip: before you sign up, contact the provider to make sure other kids are actually enrolled. We learned that the hard way.

For the full story, including a cautionary tale involving a ukulele, read the complete post on The Minnesota Adjustment on Substack.

Read the full post HERE