As horrible & absent as the WAS can be as a parent, detaching is so crucial, so there's a lot to be said for seeing this as a "parade" of fools.
Sit down out of the way, eat your popcorn & watch the parade go by...But do your best to protect your kids.
When my h left for "up the road" (300 miles) & then to "check out" Alaska, he wrote a letter to me saying how much he loved & missed "OUR" kids (pointing out that they were not just my children... ) um, okay...
Anyhow, he wrote that he missed me and our family & thought about us "every day." Like it had all "just happened" and wasn't caused by his unilateral choices, and as if it had happened to HIM, more than anyone else...
Honestly, you'd think he was drafted into combat...
M: 57 H: 60 M: 35 yrs S30,D28,D19 H off to Alaska 2006 Recon 7/07- 8/08 *2016* X = "ALASKA 2.0" GROUND HOG DAY I File D 10/16 OW DIV 2/26/2018 X marries OW 5/2016
) um, okay...