My Ex and I share custody of our two children 7yr old daughter and 9 yr old son. There are lots of unresolved issues the father has towards me. He has not forgiven me for leaving him I left him becasue he was contrlling and verbally abusive). The children are often put in the middle of our conflicts. I have tried to maintain a friendly relationship between us. However there are times when my ex does not like my tone, or my response etc.. he becomes angry, leaves me several rude messages on my machine, He refuese to pick up the kids on his days. when asked by the kids why he didn't pick them up he tells them " its because of your mother", on seveal occasions he has told the kids he will be leaving the country because thier mother has made his life misrable.He also told the kids that becasue of me he is dying. . My son doesn't want to leave his father for fear that he will die or leave the country. When thier father does not pick them up the kids worry about . Thier father blames all his problems on me, he shares his feelings and fears with the children. I don't know how to deal with this. I have had to explain to the kids that thier father exagerates things, that he will never leave them. I'm often put in a postion where I have to tell the children that their dad's behavior is not okay and not to be repeated. Most of the time thier father is normal and responsible with the kids, they are very attached to him and love him very much. Thier dad has monthy or bi monthly mood swings. My son is the most effected by his fathers mood swings, he has trouble trusting people, he has trouble consintrating at school, he sometimes picks the weaker kids in school , I see lots of anger in him. I don't know how to deal with this. Do I take daddy time away from the kids? How do I teach my children that thier dads behavior is not normal? What is okay to tell the kids without doing the same thing he is doing?