84. How to Cope With Sadness, Anxiety, and Longing While Your Kids Are Gone

One of the most painful realities of my divorce was facing the fact that my daughter would be splitting her time between two homes.

Every time Annika left for her dad's house, I would feel empty, disconnected and even numb.

After I remarried, I wanted to engage in normal life with Mike and our mutual kids while Annika was at her dad's — but for me, things just weren't normal and I didn't feel "okay".

I was constantly thinking of Annika. I was missing her and worrying about her.  And I didn't want our family to engage in anything fun or memorable until she returned.  I kind of wanted to "press pause" on life every other week.

Needless to say, this dynamic created emotional tensions.  Not just for me, but for the rest of my family as well.

In this episode, we'll share how we gradually learned to respond to my ongoing grief and Mike's feelings of abandonment and frustration which sometimes still creeps into our family — even 20 years later!

Listen in to find out how you can manage emotional tensions and show up well for each other (and the rest of your family) while struggling through this common dynamic. 

You'll Discover:

• The real-life struggles we faced when Kim was missing her daughter and dealing with ongoing grief
• How a parent's ongoing grief can impact everyone in the blended family
• Healthy ways to manage anxiety, sadness and emotional tension when you're missing your bio-kids
• Tips on how you can show up well when your spouse is struggling and seems to be disconnecting from you in their ongoing grief 

Resources from this Episode:

• Episode 71:  How to Help Kids Cope with Painful Disappointment
• Nick Wignall Article:  Scheduled Sadness:  Why You Should Make Time to Be Sad on Purpose
• Nick Wignall's Article:  Self-Care:  What It Really Is and How to Do It Well

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