And so it begins.
As discussed last week, my son left my home to spend eight-weeks of the summer with his mom. I managed to subdue emotions when I took him, mainly because the flight departed at 5:05am and we had to wake up at 3:15am.
Enroute to a meeting later in the day, I watched an American Airlines 737 take off from the airport and the sight prompted tears as the reality set in.
But parenting continues…just in a different way.
Photo Credit: joancolomer via Compfight cc
Shortly after settling into his summer home, he learned of an illness in the family. For a dad who wanted to comfort his son in person, the physical distance between us seemed to multiply by 10x. He sent me a text with the crying emoji. You will never guess what it triggered for me.
My take away from this fresh experience, while simple, serves as foreshadowing for what is to come. I will not always physically be with my son in the difficult time. I will not always physically be with him in the amazing times.
But he will carry with him my parenting, the lessons I teach him, the hugs I give him, the time I spend with him, and even the fumbles I make – which reminds me of the importance of the moments I do have with him.
Whether you have sole custody or joint custody, how do you negotiate long distance parenting? What has been one of your “lessons learned”?
Jason, past two posts have been great and trigger lots of thoughts/concerns and emotions. A couple of things- the most difficult piece with this subject is the balancing of respecting your ex’s needed and important time with your child and making sure you can maintain a semblance of connectivity while their gone. My biggest lesson learned is to not express how much you miss them in a way that makes your child feel like they are doing something wrong by being “away” with their other parent. I have noticed when my children are with me and they get on the phone with the other half and have to hear ” I miss you so much tell me everything your doing are you coming home soon- so on and so forth and they hang up and they say oh man mom really wish’s I was there and they get bummed. I try and express my love for them and support for their time with their other half and encourage them to enjoy the moment.
FYI- you have been in my prayers with the situation!
Thanks, Scott. Agree wholeheartedly about not making your kids feel badly about being with the other parent by laying it on thick. At some point, I think the kids see right through that as well.