OnlineBookClub.org

Hi all,

Sadly, the situation that Nadia was in when she took her child to the airport, only to find out that his father flagged his passport (I'm assuming that's what he did?) is a common occurrence among parents who are separated or divorced. I have been in this situation myself. Could anyone relate to a last-minute forced change of plans because of the vindictiveness of the child's other parent?

Monica

-- 21 Jul 2017, 17:31 --

Hi Monica,
I was angry at the situation and the father playing kind of "power tripping" as a vengeance to his ex-wife at the expense of his own child. I want to cry in frustration reading this scene. But standing ovation to Nadia for a wise choice on how to react even though she is filled with anger. The right time will come for the father to reap the fruit of his vindictiveness (may I borrow your word). In the end my heart goes to strong women like you are and Nadia.

It's unfortunate that the father apparently didn't discuss his wishes with Nadia regarding the kid's ability to travel but instead took unilateral action that caused frustration and confusion. That kind of action drives wedges deeper between parents and puts the child in a tough position between them. With the high incidence of parents kidnapping their own children away from an ex-partner's custody, however, I understand why authorities permit parents to set up protections that prevent children from travelling.

It's the law, and citizens have to abide by. Some mothers, mostly the foreign ones, never turn back home if they travel with their kid(s) abroad. Nadia should have made some arrangements with her ex before getting to the airport.

Awad Sharar wrote:It's the law, and citizens have to abide by. Some mothers, mostly the foreign ones, never turn back home if they travel with their kid(s) abroad. Nadia should have made some arrangements with her ex before getting to the airport.

But she did make arrangements with her ex. He retracted his permission at the last minute to get back at her.

L_Therese wrote:It's unfortunate that the father apparently didn't discuss his wishes with Nadia regarding the kid's ability to travel but instead took unilateral action that caused frustration and confusion. That kind of action drives wedges deeper between parents and puts the child in a tough position between them. With the high incidence of parents kidnapping their own children away from an ex-partner's custody, however, I understand why authorities permit parents to set up protections that prevent children from travelling.

Knowing how much that trip meant to Waleed, I was really frustrated at the choice the father made to get back at his wife - so petty.
I know this to occur in real life between separated parents who don't get along with each other anymore and really have no sense of trust in each other.

I couldn't even imagine. That would make me so furious! But then again, I know it's for good reasons, so that a parent can't just take the child without the other's consent.

I also didn't like that scene with the father. I felt it was very selfish of him to keep his child from traveling out of anger with the mother. Unfortunately, in the world it is common to see children get hurt by being in the middle of their parents' feud.

No matter what happen between parents, it shouldn't affect their children happiness.

It is sad, but it happens and quite often from what I understand. I know of a family that went through this when the British mother wanted to take her child back home from an Arab country (forgot which one it was, it's been a while). She could leave, but she couldn't take her daughter because the husband had the say in the affairs. Frustrating, to say the least.

Awad Sharar wrote:It's the law, and citizens have to abide by. Some mothers, mostly the foreign ones, never turn back home if they travel with their kid(s) abroad. Nadia should have made some arrangements with her ex before getting to the airport.

Nadia did make those arrangements. Her ex was vindictive and didn't tell her that he changed the permissions because HE wanted her to get turned away at the airport. What he did was CRUEL towards his own son.

Children shouldn't be made pawns in an estranged couple's battle. But it happens in real life, further damaging the children's fragile morale.
Everybody would agree, though, that the scene was one of the highlights of the story.

My mom also had this problem when I was younger, although in my case she couldn't get a passport for me in the first place because my dad refused to sign off on it and apparently both parents' signatures are needed.

It's a little different (not related to travelling), but my friend's mom also couldn't get divorced because her husband literally just disappeared and they had no idea where to send the papers for him to sign. She had to wait 3 years to get remarried, and apparently she didn't hear from her ex-husband for another 2 years after that.
People can be so irresponsible sometimes, and they just don't stop to think about how their actions will affect those around them.

I can imagine that it can be very frustrating, especially if the parent in question is unreasonable. But it could be a life saver if you were on the other end and the action could save your child from danger.