'Bachelor in Paradise': Michael A. on Deciding to Leave Son James to Film the Show (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

, an opportunity he jumped on despite previously leaving Katie Thurston's season of because his now 6-year-old son, James, was struggling with his absence.«Since we've had some history of doing this in the past, we were a little bit more prepared this time around,» Michael told ET of himself and James. «He's with my parents and my in-laws, and they came to him with this vacation package while I was gone.

When I told him I was going away, he was like, 'I’m going to have so much more fun than you.' And I’m like, 'Little do you know.'»«He’s in good hands,» he added. «I mean, I never would leave if I felt like he wasn't in a good place.

I miss him already, and so it will be hard being away.»His decision to once again look for love on TV, came after he took «a break from dating» following his exit because «it took me a decent amount of time to reset and get back to a mental state where I could be my best self.» Now that Michael feels like he's in a good spot personally, he's ready to invest in himself in his search for love.«The decision to do this was really just kind of investing in myself.

I think a lot of parents, they have a tendency to lose themselves in the role of being a parent and you forget that they're humans too.