Growing Up The Hard Way

Here's an idea: Wouldn't it have been easier to work on the marriage and stay together?

Admittedly, it’s never easy for an ex-partner to be relegated to visitor status in the former family home, especially when new partners are thrown into the mix.

To make matters worse, these days many families are rambling networks of current and ex-partners, children and step-children, which can make for ever more complicated arrangements.

Another friend, Patrick, is a prime example of this — last year he spent December 25 with his ex-wife, her new husband and her new husband’s ex-wife . . . not to mention their various offspring.

‘It’s all very “modern”, but I hate it,’ he says. ‘I do it to keep the children happy. If I’m honest, there is also a bit of envy involved, because their house is much nicer and more Christmassy than my flat.’

-- Nora