|
Dad to a 5 yr old, and since I have been separated from my wife for almost 3 years now, she has split the time between us, in different countries. Since covid happened on her time, I have seen my daughter a total of 10 days so far this year in person.
That is tough, even with lots of video chats and phone calls. I am still in the loop on everything, I get all the contact info from her school and such, and it has all been to provide as solid and grounded a rearing for her, even if we aren't always together.
When she was born, I would take plenty of the night time wake-ups, unless she needed food, to let my wife rest since she had her all day. We did wean her into her own crib pretty early, and that helped a lot, but the first 3 months were still very minimal sleep for us both, as I was also finishing the lacrosse season, so that kept me at practice or games 3-4 nights a week until late. I took most of the year paternity leave that I could take in Canada, and she went back to work at about 4 months, so I got lots of the young stage moments, standing, walking, first words etc. It was great fun, and I am so glad I had those times. Now it's hard when I see how many milestones she is hitting, writing sentences, reading, memorizing names, numbers, home address etc. At least I get to be there on the phone for some of it...
Putting your own mental health first can be tough, and I let it slide for a few years. Getting better now, and I love my daughter more than anything in the world.
|