I think what we're really trying to show you is that you DO have a choice. If you realize you have a choice-- a REAL choice, and then DECIDE to stay, then you know you're choosing to stay. But if you feel trapped with no options, you're just a prisoner.
My best friend finally divorced after a counselor told her that she and her husband had been living "with a dead body (the marriage)" for 10 years. They were married 17. She bought a house one street over from his house, and the kids lived just about equal time at both houses. Both parents DID see the kids virtually every day. And they could relate to the kids on their own without the inter-parental tension (of which there was plenty). Yeah, there was sadness... divorce under the best of circumstances is very, very hard. But she's happily remarried and has finally stopped hating her ex.
What kind of an example are you giving them being miserable every day and with no "good vibes" between you and their mom... what is that teaching them?
Maybe we can hear from some other people on the board whose parents are divorced. My parents stayed together, but I used to wish they WOULD divorce. There was no love in our household. I thought that each of them might have a chance at happiness with someone else, and then maybe I would have a chance at a normal family life. But they stayed together until the bitter, bloody end. They didn't do me or themselves any favor.
