X has been in Switzerland since Dec. 18th with DOW(fiance).
He called once on Dec. 28th and we were home but since I didn't recognize the number on call display I let it go to voicemail.
The girls were with me at the time and we listened to the message where he said how much he missed them and that he loved them and that he would try to call later. (He never did call later. He always says this and very rarely follows up).
I have always told them that if Daddy calls they can answer the phone. I will not answer it myself since he is calling to talk to them. They also have my permission to call him anytime. They never do. It's happened maybe once.
He called again last night. Wow. Two phone calls in the 3 weeks he has been away (that's a lot for him).
I saw the number and said to the girls that it's probably Daddy. No response.
Call went to the machine and he started to leave a message. No response from them.
I asked, "Do you want to talk to Daddy? You can pick up and talk to him."
DD1 says, "No".
I have to say that I was shocked that it was DD1 saying this. She has mostly been eager to talk to him on the phone and she is the more forgiving of the 2 kids towards her father.
I asked her why she doesn't want to talk to daddy.
She says, "I'm busy right now with my iPad."
I have to say that I am strangely torn by this.
It's good that she is making her own decisions about speaking to him but I'm wondering if she's harbouring resentment that he has been gone so long.
They never seem too concerned that he is going away (yet again) and don't really ask when he is coming back.
I realized that most of the time when he calls and I see his number I am saying, "pick up the phone, it's daddy."
I saw it as facilitating their contact but maybe they were answering when they really didn't want to?
Anyone have a similar experience/situation?