Thomas Rhett fully planned on missing his children this year. The father of three was going to be on his Center Point Road Tour for most of 2020. Instead, he is spending an unprecedented amount of time with his wife, Lauren Akins, and daughters Willa Gray, Ada James and Lennon Love — and soaking up every minute of the unexpected time together.

“Honestly, it’s been such a blessing in disguise this whole year,” Thomas shared in a virtual press conference following his historic tie with Carrie Underwood for at the ACM Awards for Entertainer of the Year. “I would say the first 30, 40 days into quarantine, I was kind of losing my mind, going, ‘I need to play a show. I need to write a song. I need to do something.’ And then one day my wife looked at me and said, ‘Honey, you’re not going to play a show this year. You just need to let it be and relax and be with our family.’ And it’s been really amazing to get to spend this much quality time with my kids.

“This is the most nights in a row I’ve ever gotten to put them to bed, and wake up with them,” he added. “We’ve actually been on a road trip the last couple of weeks together, and it’s been absolutely amazing, just to get to watch them grow up. As crazy and weird as this year has been, that is definitely a silver lining, just getting to watch my kids grow and getting to really be intentional with my wife.”

Thomas might be home this year, but next year he plans on hitting the road again, and this time bringing his daughters with him for at least some of his shows.

“I’m ready for a break, for sure,” Thomas told CMT‘s Cody Alan. “I think when next summer rolls around and we get back on the road, it’s going to be really tough to leave. My kids got so used to me being Dad on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and not on weekends, so now that I’m here 24/7, seven days a week, they’re going to be like, ‘You work? You have a job?’ So it will be different, but I can’t wait.

“They’ll be so much older then, that it will be so much fun to take them on the road, and I think they’ll appreciate it that much more,” he added.