Tearing up the rules, for one thing: that means chocolate pancakes for breakfast every breakfast, plus screen time in the evenings – because after dinner there’s nothing quite like “jammy time” (where pyjamas are de rigueur at 8pm and movie night is every night).
Being away – and the only responsible adult – with a teenager and an under-10 means being able to be silly (and who wouldn’t want to dig a massive hole in the sand and sit in it) while also feeling stressed the entire time about having to be responsible for all the decisions: which place to eat, which activity, is it safe?
square JAMES DIXON I moved to Copenhagen with my daughter – Danish parenting showed me I was overbearing
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Yet while I was expecting some turbulence (not least when we nearly missed our flight home, thanks to some very long queues at the tiny Greek airport), what I didn’t expect was to have my heart torn into pieces at UK border control.
On the one hand, I didn’t take it personally – he was just doing his job. Posters warning against human trafficking are there for all to see as you queue to re-enter Britain; staff are trained to spot people (particularly children) being coerced or forced to travel. A couple of years ago Operation Bumble focused expressly on training staff at Stansted to recognise signs of exploitation.
I wanted to look into his eyes and tell him that when they were born, so was I. That if the situation ever called for it, I would throw myself in the path of disaster for them without even blinking.
I didn’t say any of that, of course. I stammered a bit, flushed bright red (and then worried about looking guilty) and said proudly: “Yep. I’m rocking it as a single parent.”
Thankfully, I’d planned ahead for this – I have done for every trip, I’ve just never had to use it before. I pulled out a copy of both their birth certificates, plus a signed consent form from their father. But what if I hadn’t? Would I have had to scroll through thousands of photos to find the ones of me cradling them tenderly, seconds after giving birth, then insist we were who we said we were?
This is because even though you automatically have parental responsibility if you’re the child’s mother, you still need the written permission of anyone else with parental rights before you take them abroad to prevent child abduction.
It will be expensive and drawn out (I’ll also have to apply to get them new passports), but I’ll do anything to avoid being interrogated about the most important people in my life.
Because love, when it comes to crossing the border into Britain, isn’t enough.
Hence then, the article about the border force question that brought home the reality of being a single parent was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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