Hello,
a blessing and a curse at the same time!
We had a similar situation. I came from a cow village with 3,000 inhabitants but with a swimming pool, secondary school, etc.
Afterwards, always commuting. Sometimes more, sometimes less. If you want to earn money with us, you either commute or leave FFM completely, etc.
Afterwards, I met my wife in FFM, moved out of FFM to Taunus, had a child, two more planned, and then it dawned on us that the rental apartment was getting too small or rather we wanted a nest. We have now landed in my hometown. With property and happy.
BUT: my wife has agreed to HO. Now she also has to go to FFM occasionally and HATES it. A3 by car is a daily horror. I always have to listen to traffic jams and so on. Taking the train is out of the question for her. 1, she doesn’t like it 2, too inflexible.
I am HAPPY. Why? I know commuting. Every day from door to door 3 hours back and forth. I could also quit the job, but it’s not possible because no one in the city pays me 90k a year. I read on the train, do my NAPs. Occasionally I also do my HO, the employer is slowly opening up.
I don’t see living in the countryside as a problem for you. You can get to know it for the sake of the children. My wife loves the city by now and is happy.
You have to endure commuting in the long run (meaning YEARS)... especially with public transport. Cars also mean money and stress....
Good luck, exciting thread!