DUBAI: Every summer, thousands of families across the Gulf make a decision that silently reshapes every relationship within their family. They do so in the hope of giving their children a different kind of summer. They separate so their children can reconnect with grandparents, cousins and familiar places, spend their days outdoors and experience the kind of summer that is difficult to recreate during the Gulf’s hottest months. For many expatriate families, work remains in the region. Remote work is not always possible, annual leave is limited and one parent stays behind while the other travels with the children. It is a practical decision made in the family’s best interest, although it quietly reorganizes family life for everyone involved.
Rita Figueiredo is the managing director of Peninsula Psychology in Dubai. (Supplied)
Once the family splits, every relationship shifts. The traveling parent becomes the main caregiver, balancing children’s routines, travel, family expectations and the emotional adjustment of moving between countries. The parent who stays behind keeps daily life moving through work, returns to a quieter home and misses the ordinary moments that give family life its rhythm. Children immerse themselves in grandparents, cousins and new adventures, strengthen their connection to their cultural roots or discover that those roots feel more distant than expected, and still miss having both parents close by. Their friendship circles change too as classmates scatter across the world and familiar routines disappear.
