Building a more solid personal Foundation

[LITB]

An update on my sitch(long):

I got back from my 11 day trip to NM on Jan 3. I spent quality time with my children and the rest of my family.

The day I flew to NM, our D8 had to be taken to the ER because she was having trouble breathing. She was having asthma like symptoms, which she had when she was young. Apparently a virus she caught triggered the scare. Thankfully she is fine and was released a couple of hours later.

The next day, my W and I took our D to a follow up appointment. As we waited to be called, we were having a casual conversation. I knew that our D was transported to the hospital by ambulance, so I asked if my W had gone with her. My W did, which was good and then I asked if my MIL had picked them up. My D said, “No, Paul (OM) picked us up, Paul (insert last name)”. That caught me off guard. Thankfully my D needed the bathroom right after that. It gave me enough time to think about it. When they were coming from the bathroom, we got called into the checkup room. It did bother me, but I never brought it up.

So we got the bad part out of the way immediately. The rest of the trip went well.

When I was in NM for thanksgiving my W and I had discussed our children’s Christmas list, however that was the extent of the convo. As Christmas approached and we began talking about the gifts, my W asked if we could split the cost, then give them to our children “From: Mom and Dad”. I thought it was a bit odd, but I agreed to it as it didn’t hurt. As a matter of fact, it worked out great as my W did the shopping and I didn’t have to worry about shipping or traveling with additional items.

The one thing that I didn’t know was when/where were we going to be giving them the gifts. Before I asked, my W let me know that they (My W and MIL) were going to my hometown for Christmas Eve and would be at my sister’s house if it was okay with me. Again, that was fine with me. Still a bit odd, but I felt like there was nothing wrong with my children having their parents in the same room for the holidays without any tension. They opened most of their gifts at my sister’s, which was a nice gesture on my W’s part.

Additionally, I bought my W some tennis shoes as a gift from our children. She had mentioned she needed some for my previous visit. She was pleasantly surprised and thanked me even though they were from our children. Thankfully I did that, because she also got me a shirt, sweatshirt and beanie of my favorite university from our children. My D8 was funny, she said, “that isn’t from us, mom bought it”.

Christmas Eve turned out great. What a difference a year makes. The year before, I was like a lost puppy dog, begging my wife to reconsider. This year, I did my own thing and gave her space.

For Christmas my S5 and I went to my W’s family’s house for a few hours. My D8 stayed at my sister’s place as she had all of my nieces to play with and didn’t want to leave. It was the first time I saw my W’s family since the previous Christmas. Everyone was happy to see me. They made me feel like I was still a part of the family. I don’t think they bought what my W was shoveling to them about me last year when she

We have come a long way since my W threatened to put a restraining order on me back in August when we were dealing with court hearings, custody and child support.

To be continued…….