I have at times really hurt for my kids, because of some of the stuff they have had to witness and endure. Do I feel sad for them all the time? No. I wouldn't even call it feeling sad for them, just empathizing with them for some of these issues.
As far as on my end, my kids and myself are actually happier on a daily basis then when we were married and living in the same house. It had become a very oppressive environment with everyone walking on eggshells and being unhappy. I feel that my relationship with my kids now is better than ever. We are very close and share lots of happy times. I don't feel that they are missing out on anything on my end. Do they sometimes have issues that come up and things they need to talk about? yes. But they come to me and we talk through things. They are happy kids. Mom is usually a happy mom. Overall things are good.
So, long answer short, I guess I do not feel sad for them. I do worry about them when they are away from me tremendously though. Ex is not emotionally stable.
Now, I can't speak to what they are like or what happens at ex's when he has them except for what they tell me, which is not sounding good. But, the majority of their time is spent with me and they are only over there every other weekend. More coming up with the school breaks though.
"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." Robert Collier
"One's best success often comes after their greatest disappointments." Henry Ward Beecher
