The trouble with ultimatims is that you have to be prepared to act on them, not always easy with 3 kiddies. The first time you do not back up your words, and he'll laugh at you after that. I only had one child, no parents and in a foreign country, husband supported me (childcare way too expensive here, and loads of paperwork for work permits in those days) so I decided to stay. Sometimes he has been so awful in drink I merrily wished he would die on the way home!! We are better now, but I know deep down that he resented our child and the attention I gave to her, as we had 11 child free years before she came along, and we did everything together, then that stopped. He also didn't understand the fact that I would have chosen her (what mother wouldn't) over him at any time, if needed . Oh dear, sounds awful, doesn't it? Well we've got through it, but I also felt that I brought her up on my own for the first 12 years and then he started to take an interest in her.