I must say, this Separated thread sure is a hopping place to be! I'm used to the old "I'm thinking about leaving" thread, a low traffic area, a nice but quiet neighbourhood which has a dark cloud hanging overhead. I'm getting jet lag from moving over here. The posts just keep zipping by! Now, Beachboy thanks for the input. The problem I am finding is that "the talk" is supposed to be a building block to keeping healthy what's left of the family thing. By passing out blame or just allowing her to explain (which says "she's to blame", which she is BTW) then we are not united in dealing with the kids. The kids don't need to hate their mom (that's my job ) but how do you make an A a "positive" thing, and why would you want to? It's rough. Yes, I'd love to say "you made your bed now deal with it" but that's not fair to my kids. I chose to end the R and I did so because I could no longer accept the lifestyle my W has brought to our family, but she has also agreed to end the M. I'm stumped. I hope my babbling is making some sense, it's just the jet lag from my move to separated.