Regrowing the family tree

I am back from France having gained a fair few freckles and lost a couple of grammes due to my salad-centric diet there. One thing that struck me whilst there was the whole notion of family.

The Mediterraneans know how to do family. Walk down the side streets and you often see a cluster of grandparents and parents and children sat on chairs on the pavement having animated and interesting foreign conversations (probably: "what the hell are those red-faced, sweaty, rucksack-toting tossers doing taking a photo of this street?"). Children are prevalent abroad: they go to restaurants until the middle of the night, they play on streets, the 13 year old ones drive scooters right at you full pelt (protected only by their insouciance: helmets and, heck, t-shirts, are for losers).

The odd thing for me was being a single parent. Now, I'm not claiming that France has no single parents but I didn't notice any. Everywhere there were couples with babies or extended families. In the hotel there was very firmly a Mum and a Dad collecting the kid's Coco-pops. Why is this? Are there far fewer single families abroad or is it simply that single parents can't afford to travel? It is shockingly hard to cope financially as a single parent: you have all the expense but only a half of the income (or in my case a third as my ex earned twice what I do). Additionally, it is exceptionally tiring travelling as a single parent: theoretically you can't even go to the loo on your own - you have to have your kid with you 24-7 as there isn't another pair of eyes to watch them. I remember the outcry after Maddie McCann's abduction about the children being left on their own in the apartment: it doesn't bear thinking about.

But luckily for me I am becoming more Mediterranean in familial matters. Trees regrow branches when one has been cut off. My family tree has had one major branch lopped off rather dramatically when my son and I were left by my ex, but instead we are relying on the older boughs of our family tree and holidaying with my parents. This means I can afford to take my son to places significantly more interesting and stimulating than my back yard; and - and this is a great thing- I can actually go to the toilet on my own abroad.

We're regrowing our family tree.