I had a hard time the first Christmas day or two I was away from the kids after the divorce. The only place I could find that was open for breakfast was Waffle House which ended up starting a tradition with the kids.
Every year we’d go to my folks house 3 hours away a couple of days before, do the family thing on Christmas Eve and then drive back to our town and their mom’s in the morning.
We’d hit the waffle house that was 1/2 way there eat breakfast and leave a huge tip. The last time we did it my son had a good paying internship and matched my tip, we left $100.
In the grand scheme, tomorrow is just another day. It’s how you stay active in your kid’s day to day lives that matters in the long run.
And FWIW, my kids deem their mom’s actions on Christmas, Birthdays and special days the “glory moments”. She was sporadically involved in their day to day lives but always made a big production at the holidays, etc.
I took/picked up them from school each day and made myself available 24/7 if they needed me. Now that they are grown the love dividend for the time I spent hauling them around and just being available is paying back in spades.
On some forums, that would get a +1.
Thank you for sharing that. That perspective is very encouraging.