Do you have kids? I used to hate when people would ask me that question before I had kids, because it seems to imply that having them places your opinion on a higher tier. Now that I do, I try and avoid it as much as possible for that reason, but I do understand that parenting is one of the theaters where theory space, and optimal practice, can be very different. The fact is, they never have to know, at least until they’re old enough to understand. They don’t have to know that Dad is sad when he’s alone with Mom, because we still have fun and laugh as a family when they are present. The lesson that I’m teaching them by example, is that it is better to have one bedroom than two, then to have to decide whether they want to live with mom or dad most of the time, that even though Mom and Dad civilly argue sometimes, we can still be a family, and be happy most of the time, rather than give up on a promise made before they were born because of factors they can’t possibly understand yet.
Second only to a death, divorce is the biggest possible deal for a family, and I’m tired of people pretending like it’s not. It’s valid in cases of abuse, or if the unhappiness is to a degree where it becomes emotionally damaging to the kids, but divorce should not even be put on the list of available options. Divorce is what you do when none of the available options end up working.