Am I the one confused, or is there some confusion in this thread? I got the impression from BBS's posts that his own children are the 'grandchildren' in question, and that he moved to be closer to the grandparents of his children. The rest of the world seems to think that it is BBS who is the grandparent, and is interpreting his experience on that basis .... BBS, can you clarify (or not, as you feel)?

You seem to feel that busking is little more than glorified begging - if you go at it with that assumption, you're going to find it a depressing experience. If, on the other hand, you can convince yourself that it is a valid way to earn a bit of money, then you may find it worthwhile.

If you have been doing home-schooling with your kids, you may want to consider offering tutoring services for other kids/parents. Slap an ad up on Kijiji and see what happens.