This is a book for women who have faced chronic mistreatment by their partners, and who are concerned about how their children have been affected by the events they have seen or heard. I describe how children are emotionally hurt by living in the atmosphere that abusive behavior creates, and how mothers can help their children heal. There is a place here for you even if your partner's selfish or bullying behavior does not rise to a level that you would call "abuse." What matters is not the precise labels we put on conduct, but how we help children come through intact when they have been stung by the disrespect, cruelty, or violence they have seen their mother subjected to.