It's okay if he thinks it's you taking the easy way out. It's okay to take the easy way out. It's the way you are comfortable for now. If face to face isn't working, this is one type of a 180, nothing wrong with 180's.

You can just say;

"we're having communication challenges rght now, I suggest we e-mail for a while & see if that works better". If he refuses, you can say; "okay, I'll e-mail you, then you can reply in text or voice, then I'll e-mail you & you can reply in text of voice..." make sense ?

Basically, you are asserting your preferred way to communicate. He doesn't have to agree. It would be nice if he agreed, but he doesn't have to. You can still implement it from your side.

whatcha think ?

M 19 years, MC for 8 months, DB'd for 8 months
4 kids; 18, 15, 14, & 10
I was never meant to be a doormat. It took me years of therapy to become assertive enough to stop his abuse.