Dear Mom, I must say reading your post was very interesting; I too spend time in a bad relationship with a man that I met while my children were just 2 and 5 years of age. We fell madly in love and married 2 years later. Long story short ..... We were married for 16 years and on one Sunny Easter morning after going to church with my son I came home and shared with my husband,"I no longer want to be in this false marriage", Of course there are to many examples to share concerning why. But I will share this - throughout our union he(the husband) would separate my children and me for example: "Lets go and get something to eat" I would say,"Well honey you know the children have not had dinner; so lets' just go to the supermarket and I'll cook for the four of us!" His response would be well we just had dinner together last night so on and so..... This went on for many years;I was a great wife and great stay at home mom therefore the bond between my children and me is strong and solid. I am certain that my husband was very upset because we are so close. That being said, he too had a son that my children and I were close with but he spent very little time with his own son from a previous marriage; and if I had not planned sleep overs for the three children I believe he would not have seen his son at all. So please please please rejoice that you have spared yourself any further heartache. God is real and good therefore your heart will heal and be ready to offer a new partner your kind love and affection. May peace be with you and boys. Bsugar123