Guys, at this time last year my wife was totally withdrawn from the kids too. Rather than watch s11's baseball games -- which she always loved -- she'd walk around the ballfields and talk on her cellphone the entire time. Instead of watching his practices, she'd sit in her car and scribble out "budgets" about life, post-Puppy. She would leave them to fend for themselves for lunch, while she was out having sex with OM.
Tonite, as I sit here writing this, my wife is on the couch opposite from me, after getting their backpacks together for their first day of school tomorrow, made their lunches, "walked" S11 thru his map of his classes (he's starting at a new middle school), helped him with his combination lock, and she's making them chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.
They do come back. Just not always, and you don't get to control whether or not they do, they they do, often, come back, as good of a mother as ever.
