Telling the children...

I have two small girls aged 6 and 8.

They are beautiful, funny, intelligent, playful, and everything else that little girls of this age are supposed to be. That includes, naughty, mischievous, and prone to get into fights over the most insignificant matters imaginable.

Life for the two of them took a horrible twist just over a year ago. There was a day back then where their mother and I sat down to tell them that we were divorcing. The tears, the heartache, the almost physical pain I could see in their eyes, the look of total disbelief, the confusion, the fear, was a sight I never want to see again. Of course, all the experts say that children 'bounce back', they learn to adapt, they 'get over it'. They can call it whatever they like - I call it surviving.

Over the next few weeks there were so many questions with no easy answers. The 'adults' were asking questions along the lines of 'How much am I going to walk away with?'. The children are more interested in who's going to be there when they wake up in the morning.

I couldn't believe that we were handing our children these issues to deal with. I have never been so disgusted with myself. I was so ashamed that our actions as a couple had led to this. Ronald Reagan used to talk about trickle-down economics. Well here's trickle-down responsibility for your actions.

Throughout my life I have done many things that I am not proud of. There are many things that I have done that have been met with punishment and there are many that I have gotten away with. With hardly any exception, the effect of these actions has been contained. And in the cases where others were involved, handled appropriately, and we all move on.

But this is different. This is about two little girls that are now on the receiving end of my actions. And not just any two little girls - these are my girls.