Seen a lot of posts lately of people with young kids hurting because the kids are loving being at disney parent's house and they are just the "mean one". Wondering if the kids will ever see through the other parents BS. Wondering how this all works out.
Here's where I'm at. When XH dissapeared in the middle of the night and didn't even call them for a few days my DS was 13 and DD was 9. We set out on this horrible life change, my kids crushed. That was in spring.
That fall once "proper" visitation was set up, the kids went with him EOW and also slept over 2 weeknight nights, even though he lived in another town 30 min away.
Somewhere within the next year XH left to live in a town 1 1/2 hours away to be with his gf. The weekday overnights became dinner only. DS started to avoid going on weekends, being involved in a lot of sports, and not being able to handle driving back and forth from his place 3 times in a weekend for games and practices.
XH moved back out to the town 1/2 hour away and asked for his weekday overnights back. Both kids refused. Even daddy's little girl DD. Around this point he called DS an asshole in anger 3 times in about 2 weeks. For a while, DS refused to go with him at all. DD went for dinners, and went for weekends.
DS did start seeing his father again, but has always hated going for overnights, because they do nothing and the sleeping arrangements suck.
DS is now 17, and DD is 14. He will be finishing high school this coming school year. DD is starting high school. I work at the school they go to.
Both kids now avoid going with him, even for dinners, as much as possible. I always feel stuck in the middle, never able to plan because I never know if I'm cooking dinner for just me, for 2, or 3 people. I try to stay out of it, tell them whatever they do, they need to speak to their dad.
This past weekend was XH's birthday. The kids just texted him HB, not even a call. They both went for dinner last night and gave him his presents. DS came home ticked that XH expected both of them to go with him for this coming weekend (they haven't both gone for a weekend all summer, actually longer than that). He has to work 3 shifts this weekend, which is walking distance from my home. I'm working from home all weekend. He wants to stay. I just calmly looked at him and said, you are 17, you work out what you want. He texted his dad he's not going. I'm expecting DD to say if DS isn't going, neither is she. I'm working all weekend, will literally be attached to the computer 7am to 11pm, so I can't interact, make a proper dinner, anything. The kids still want to be here.
DS said last night: It's not my fault he lives out there. It's not my fault he f'd everything up and isn't here anymore.
I just sat quietly.
DD isn't as vocal about it, as she loves her dad to death...but she can't stand going out there. No friends, not her bed. Even she avoids going to dinner with the daddy she loves, because she just wants to be home after a long day.
XH likes to believe, well, they are teens. This is what happens. Nope. This is happening to you idiot because of how you have treated them since you left. If you had made them a priority, thought about where you were living and how it would affect them, thought about how many bedrooms you had and had proper space for them, thought about how you talked to them..it wouldn't have happened like this.
So, 4 years down the road, I have the kids 98% of the time, and I don't see it changing. I've put dating on the backburner, work two jobs to be able to keep the house up and get them what they need, rarely go out with friends. But I have my kids. And even if they are teens and won't snuggle with me anymore, having them here, knowing they are safe is what it is about. XH is missing out on two great kids because of "f'ing up" as DS put it.
Kids figure it out.