A somber mindset. More than one year after Lindsie Chrisley and Will Campbell finalized their divorce, the reality TV personality is not looking forward to their alternating holiday custody arrangement.
“As I’ve tried my best to emotionally prepare for this, I’m a big believer nothing can prepare you for waking up on Christmas morning without your child,” Chrisley, 33, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, December 22, sharing holiday photos with son Jackson, 10. “We’ve experienced a lot of change, a ton of heartache, bittersweet moments, and some sweet ones.”
She continued: “A quote I ran across the other day, I find myself reading over and over, I hope it encourages you as much as it has me. ‘Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right and forget about the ones who don’t. And believe that everything happens for a reason, if you get a chance — take it; if it changes your life — let it. Nobody said that it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it.’”
The Chrisley Knows Best alum — who shares Jackson with Campbell, 33 — further noted that “splitting special” holidays post-divorce is “devastating,” especially as she started decorating her Christmas tree.
“Collecting ornaments from trips we took as a family and special things Jackson made us are treasures I’ll hold on to forever,” Chrisley concluded her Thursday post. “I love you all and forever thankful for the support you show me and my family.”
The “Coffee Convos” podcast host and Campbell, who eloped in 2012, announced in July 2021 that they had separated. Their divorce was finalized that October and they continued to coparent Jackson. However, their amicable post-split relationship hit a snag after her father, Todd Chrisley, and stepmom Julie Chrisley were found guilty of fraud and tax evasion. (The twosome, who wed in 1996, are due to report to prison in January for their respective sentences of 12 and seven years.)
“[These] past two weeks has been the roughest, most uncertain time that I’ve ever felt in my life … and with coparenting schedules … that has been a little bit hard to navigate,” Lindsie said on the June 16 episode of her “Coffee Convos” podcast. “And normally Will is very good about, if we have something come up and I give all the details or whatever, it’s like, ‘It’s OK, we’ll switch.’ But in this situation, I definitely feel that there was a little advantage taken.”
The single mother continued at the time: “I think that maybe things that have gone on in the past with Will and I, some rockiness with my parents’ relationship with Will and you know, vice versa, his relationship with them, or lack thereof. I think a lot of things kind of came to the forefront over these past two weeks. And Will was pretty much unwilling to switch with me, knowing that I needed to be in court and needed to be there with my family. And that was really hard.”
Watching her parents’ legal battle unfold has also taken a toll on Lindsie’s festive spirit.
“In my family, we’ve always done Christmas very big and it’s always been a very exciting time of year,” the South Carolina native said during an episode of her “Southern Tea” podcast last month. “Our house was always decorated very magical, and my parents always were the best at Christmas. Obviously, with everything going on with my family, things look a lot different this year.”
Todd, 53, shares Lindsie and son Kyle Chrisley with ex-wife Teresa Terry. The eldest Chrisley child explained that she planned to put on a brave face for Jackson and her younger siblings as they marked the last holiday before their parents go to jail. (Todd and Julie, 49, share children Chase, 26, Savannah, 25, and Grayson, 16, and received custody of Kyle’s daughter, Chloe, in 2019.)
“When you have children, I feel like even if you aren’t in the holiday spirit — and this really applies to any time in life, it can be a random Thursday — I feel like you kind of have to put a front in a sense like, ‘OK, everything’s good and everything’s happy and, like, we’re gonna have a good time and you have all these real-life things that are going on outside of that,’” Lindsie said during her podcast in November. “I think about when you start seeing Christmas stuff in July. I hate a rushed feeling, but this year, I’m kind of OK with it. I’m like, ‘You know what, I’m kind of ready for it to all be over. I’m ready for it to be a new year.’”
