a mum of 2 boys, I can tell you that you’re not alone. The harsh realisation there’s no sick days, no annual leave- there’s no policies and procedures manual and on top of that a “loving” partner whom you have to now handle, sometimes it’s almost like having an additional child. I left my DH when my boys were 4 and 6, and 10 months after we officially separated I did the unspeakable and left the country, just me, one way across the world. I was a stay home mum for 5 years, started to get back into the workforce, cracks in our marriage took over and both our marriage and i ended up irreparably shattered- I didn’t want to be a wife, I didn’t want to be a full time Custodial parent, I wanted to be free to live out the mid 20s that I spent “living the picket fence dream”. So I went, for a full year, and lived in the UK. Just me and my slightly younger lover, living and loving and refreshing my dullness. I was judged, tut-tutted, looked upon differently by those around me, I was the mother who left her children- all but 1 or 2 mothers I spoke to could even begin to act like they understood.