WAW w/Exit Affair or WW? - Divorced Anyway (5)

[BL42]

Made it a point not to date until after D was official - moral thing for me and my kids - but really haven't done much there since the D either.

Interested to hear more about this BL. What has happened? Are you planning to think about dating more going forward?

Nothing serious. Think I mentioned in my previous thread I signed up for a few dating apps a month or two after the D finalized, matched with a few woman, and met up with one. I had a really awkward feeling driving to the date (first and only post-D), but ended up having a good time/conversation, although she told me about how she BD'd her Ex which was a red flag for me now. She invited me over to her place a week or two later and we hooked up. It was fun but to be honest probably weren't a great match. The texts fell off on both sides and I ended up seeing her out on a date with another guy a few weeks later. I wasn't upset or anything - no big deal. I've done some dating app swiping since, and am open to more dates if it feels right, but really haven't made it a priority. Kids are #1, then work, grad school, GAL...etc.

There's a great quote I can't find at the moment, but it goes something like: "You can choose to be interested in your kid's life, but you can't choose what they're interested in." Wish I had the exact words, but that always stuck out with me. For example, I've never been into fishing but S6 tried it at a friend's lake house during the Summer of separation and really liked it and said he wanted to do it again, so I bought him a real rod and reel for his birthday and we went out several times this Summer and he's caught a few fish he's so excited about, so it became a cool bonding activity.

^^^^^This. Not only is it fun and rewarding at the time, but will continue to pay dividends as they grow up. Keep it up BL, awesome stuff on the parenting front!

Thanks OB! Love those kiddos and really do feel like I'm crushing it as a dad, especially considering the circumstances.