Any mom of kids living at home knows normal daily life involves a great deal of work and very little glamour. Doesn’t matter whether you are a stay-at-home-mom or work outside the home. If it is your responsibility to keep little ones fed, clothed, and entertained, you know how challenging it can be. Some moms couldn’t imagine living anywhere but a big city, with museums and movies within walking distance – lots to see and do. Probably the majority of moms live in a suburban environment, with plenty of commercial entertainment and shopping (Target, anyone?) within short driving distance. This mother-of-three has called Reynolds Lake Oconee home for almost nine years, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
When my family made the move from suburban Atlanta in 2003, we were simply looking for a quieter lifestyle with less traffic and chaos. We had been telling ourselves that “one of these days” we’d find a simpler life somewhere peaceful, but in truth we thought that would have to wait until the retirement years. My parents had recently made a permanent move from where I’d grown up, just south of Atlanta, to Lake Oconee, and we loved it here. We packed our bags and moved our then 14-month-old daughter to a rental home with a view of the golf course and Lake Oconee, and we thought we’d found heaven – so heavenly, in fact, that within less than a year and a half, we’d purchased a lot right around the corner, built a house, and quickly made it the home we wanted our kids to grow up in. Now, almost nine years after that move from Atlanta, we are a family of five, with three daughters, ages 9, 4, and 9 months, and Reynolds has proven to be better than anything we could have dreamed for our family.
So you hear “Reynolds Lake Oconee”, and like me several years ago, you probably think lots of retirees and some pretty great golf. But what does that have to do with me, as a mother of young kids? It may be a beautiful area, but I won’t be able to enjoy any of it if my kids are bored out of their minds. Allow me to show you Reynolds Lake Oconee from the perspective of a (late) thirty-something mom. If you want enough activity to keep yourself and the kids happy and healthy, but you also need some peace and quiet, and something to do on those blessed nights out with the husband, you might just find Reynolds to be the home-sweet-home you’ve been dreaming about.