I feel judged for moving out and leaving our kids

EARLIER this year, I decided to leave my husband. It wasn't an easy decision, as we have three teenage children together.

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From the outside, our life looked great. Nice home, good jobs, holidays every year, busy social life and lovely kids, but Id been unhappy for years.

We'd grown in different directions and I wasn't in love with him any more, but it took a long time to pluck up the courage to tell him.

I decided it was only fair for me to move out and rent, as I was the one leaving, but I wanted the kids to stay at home and have stability during these important years at school.

At first, things were OK. My ex got his head around it and we helped each other out with the kids. However, as the weeks went by, I found my friends were becoming absent and some were very judgmental.