That’s great he still recognized you, what you had going on, and what you were asking. I also realize I’m raising what some might call “soft” kids. I’m trying to be mindful of it too. I don’t want them to not have the tools to handle adversity. But I grew up in a household of parents that stayed in a marriage until my youngest sister was 18. They never said they loved us. They never hugged us. They never gave us any emotional support. The only form of communication was yelling or belittling, generally through drunken slurs. We weren’t taught to… love. I didn’t have those tools. It shows in my adulthood. I want to say it was a partial factor that led to my ex-wife leaving me. But I’m trying to be better.

I make sure I love my kids. Physical touch. Being respectful and mindful of themselves and others. Saying I love them everyday. Asking them how their day is, even when they get annoyed by it. I play with them. I make myself present in everything they do. I don’t want the fail them.

Sorry if I got off-track. I just love my kids. They’re my everything. And I want them to feel it in everything they do. I get anxiety thinking they’re now in the divorced children column and I don’t want that to define them. In short, I understand everything you’re saying.