Cast of Characters
The Proud Parents: Germany and France
The Eldest child: The United Kingdom
The Wild Child: Greece
The newly adopted: Croatia
The Redeemable Rogue: Ireland
The neglected middle child: Spain
Synopsis
G and F didn’t like each other. Then tragedy brought them together.
They cast their differences aside and became inseparable. They decided to build a family.
They vowed to be the best parents in the world. They were young and believed their family would be the happiest in history.
They were wise too. They welcomed their young with open arms and closed fists full of caveats.
(If their own bitter experience had taught them anything, it was that successful family life meant balancing freedom and constraint.)
Each year a new member was born. G and F wanted a big, happy family and they weren’t finished yet.
Their eldest, UK was a strapping lad. At first he imbibed his parents’ values. As the family grew, he began to feel stifled. He wanted more independence.
During a romantic weekend away in Maastricht, G and F conceived a fresh plan to unite them all.
It was the last straw for UK. He decided he wanted out.
When the kids hit their teens, G and F noticed that a crisis in family values was looming across the waters. They blamed fast food and the American consumer culture.
Within a few months, things got worse. Ir, who had fought through a shaky start in life to become everyone’s favourite teenage success story, turned out to be living precariously close to financial ruin. G and F were disappointed and wondered if they were too lax in tolerating her constant partying.
Then S and P went off the rails too. G and F wondered if they’d spoilt the children.
But the family pulled together and bailed the kiddies out.
The mess wasn’t over yet. Now Gr, the fiery middle child was in trouble. Financial ruin kind of trouble. Gr had been lying to his parents for years.
That was the last straw for G and F, who began to impose discipline.
On top of it all, they agreed to adopt another child.
Cro, a youngster with a troubled past had wanted to be part of the perfect family for years.
When the time finally came though, Cro realised that things weren’t so perfect after all.
Can they all pull together and become a model family once again? A vacation in Davos seems to be their only hope..
What the critics say:
This tension-filled family drama is sure to be a bloc-buster
More drama than your average Greek tragedy!
image source: http://www.salon.com
Kate Ferguson 
That banner photo is cute. Being from the UK all this Euro stuff seems a bit foreign to me (cliche British introspective view) you have to remember the eldest child is a bit of a bigot and likes things his way, and still resents all of his younger syblings for turning up and taking mummy’s attention of him! I’m glad you didn’t have Lithuania as the foster kid with learning difficulties, or Poland as the hired help who cuts the grass. I’m not as Nationalistically sensitive as you, 😉 I also spent ages reading your old posts on my phone when this came through last night. did you see my latest ‘challenge’ post?
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I really want to create a motivational banner but I’m not artistic enough. Could I outsource? I wonder if I’d be up for any of the other ones. I’ll go check! 🙂
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… In which case, Italy is the often doddering and forgetful, always drunk and occasionally racist/homophobic elder uncle. You know the type – the one that disappears for months on end to god knows where except to ask for money and is late for everything but somehow is always the first one to show up whenever there is a party…
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absolutely. Italy was beyond my character-sketching ability. You’ve painted it perfectly!
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Though I forgot to add the final bit “but everyone loves him anyway because he’s such a rogue”.
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What a complex and ever expanding family!
It remains to be seen if the parental unity proves strong and stable enough to weather all the storms. Big clouds are said to be looming from F’s original blood family and word has it that they might be looking for a replacement!
A visit from Great Uncle IMF might be on the cards.
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They might have to have a ‘state of the union’ chat!
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Fast food and American consumer culture — there’s something to that, I think.
This is actually the most understandable explanation of the Euro debt crisis I’ve read. Put anything in terms of dysfunctional family, and I get it.
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It’s how I tried to make sense of it. I get family units better than currency units. They seem to be similarly volatile though.
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G and F have too many overly-compliant children. Fear of being deprived of pocket money? Only two brave enough to question parental authority. Time some of these children moved out!
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Over-compliant children? Surely you can relate 🙂
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Reblogged this on Dr Alf's Blog and commented:
This is an interesting perspective!
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Thanks Dr Alf. 🙂
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I like this family drama. It just strikes me – the striking resemblance to perhaps -> Days of Our Lives? Long drama with little cresendos and downpoint but never failing to engage with the audience? Brilliant plot!
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I’ve never seen Days of Our Lives! Would you recommend it? 🙂
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