Hi I'm looking for some advice. XH + my relationship broke down several years ago and we're separated but unfortunately still living in the same house at the moment. We have two kids (late primary + early secondary ages).
The relationship is totally dead but I'm finding it really hard to deal with his nastiness. A lot of this is horrible text messages (bitch, go and die etc), sometimes this is face to face. He constantly calls me a bad parent; refuses to allow us to plan who is with the kids when; and when he's angry, he'll sabotage my plans eg by refusing to come home so I'm forced to cancel as I have to stay with the kids.
Every time this happens I struggle to cope mentally. My heartrate goes up, I'm tense and sometimes I'll lose hours of the day as I'm too upset to get anything much done. I think I should be able to shut him off as there is no relationship but I can't. I also feel such anger and frustration when I can't plan my own life or the kids.
I'd really like any advice on dealing with this. I can't avoid him completely because of the kids. He refuses attempts to try to sort the separation more permanently, though of course I'm trying to move this forward. How can I toughen myself up in the meantime and not waste my OWN time getting upset with his horrible behaviour?