Whatever you do, don't take advice from me. I left my husband when our 4 children were aged between 2 and 7. I am autistic, although i didn't know it then, and my thinking can be black and white. I think my decision was a selfish one and i found the "excuses" or reasons for leaving that fitted my desire. I read that children don't care who they are with, so long as who they are with is happy. And ran with it. To find happiness. I also read (I devoured every self help book on the market at the time) that we tend to regret the things we don't do, rather than the things we do do. That one gave me lots of licence. I read poetry and found this one:

For some people the day comes

when they have to declare the great Yes

or the great No. It’s clear at once who has the Yes

ready within him, and saying it

he goes from honour to honour, strong in his conviction.

He who refuses does not repent. Asked again,

he’d still say no.

Yet that no – the right no –

drags him down all his life.

Che Fece . . . Il Gran Rifiuto

C.P. Cavafy

But whatever you do, don't listen to me. Listen to your heart, and your gut.

In the end, there is no such thing as a mistake: just different paths that teach us different things.

Rooting for you and your children. A🙏💚