Advice on Dating, Breaking Up, and Kids

TLDR: How open should I be with my children about my mental/emotional health and it's causes.

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I (36M) am a divorced father of 3 (aging 9-13, 50-50 custody). Been divorced a bit over three years. I took a full year off from attempting to date right after the divorce, and have been attempting since. I'm very introverted and awkward - it should suffice to say that dating in my thirties as a divorced father of 3 has not gone well. Most people I've matched with have petered out a few messages in, and of the ones who have agreed to meet, the vast majority have been a "well this was fun, but we're not going to be sending a follow-up message to arrange a second meeting".

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Recently I had to travel some for work, and was out of town for several months. While I was there, I met an amazing woman. She was everything I had been failing to find - smart, driven, funny, attractive, kind. And we really hit it off and bonded. We did both know that I would have to leave, though, and we were trying to stay friends as I returned to my normal home. Even after I returned, we stayed in regular contact, and continued to grow that connection.

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But after being home for a while, and a few travel-and-meet-up weekends, it became clear that we weren't going to be able to make any sort of a relationship work. Which sucks, because like I said, we really connected, and I haven't felt that kind of a connection in my entire time dating. So feeling it fall apart - it has hit MUCH harder than any breakup I've gone through before.

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And so I'm not in a great place emotionally now. And I've got my kids this weekend, and I don't feel like doing anything. I don't even feel like leaving my room. They will be able to tell I'm not happy, but I've largely kept my relationships and dating away from them (unlike my ex, who introduced them to every guy she dated, and always said they were "friends"). And so my question to those of you who've been in similar situations: How much did you let your kids know, and do you think you made a good choice (whether you told them or not)?