Update

Kids come back this afternoon. Spousehole is at church - I begged off after a miserable night last night. We had an intense emotional discussion about the breakdown of our marriage and how we feel about it. It ended with me being very glad we've made this decision. It boils down to our vastly different outlooks on life. Spousehole focuses on what we don't have; I am thankful for what we do have.

He sees his siblings and parents being able to afford nice vacations and new cars and big houses and resents that we do not have the financial means to do the same. I see that we have a home with a reasonable mortgage payment, food on the table, cars that we bought used but are reliable, no debt aside from the mortgage and a car payment well under $200 on one car, clothes on our backs, enough money to keep the house warm, etc. Our children are healthy and reasonably happy - I don't think we can ask for much more. We are able to put the max in his 401K at work and maximize the company match, we have health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and a steady income from a stable employer.

I just hope my children can adopt my "glass half-full" attitude over their father's.