mentallyexh,
I want to gently point out that the title of your post is "Abusive Cycle". Abusers do not limit themselves to only one victim: your children are absolutely in harm's way and that does not mean that you don't love them, or that you don't want to protect them.
With what I've learned about myself I know now that when I've stayed in abusive relationships it's been rooted in something deep that came from before ANY of my relationships...I urge you to leave this situation for the safety of you and your children (can you imagine what their lives would be like if anything happened to YOU? They would be raised by this angry alcoholic man), and then figure out what it is about you that is okay with how you're being treated.
Please, please...I can't emphasize this enough...get him out (or go with the kids to a safe place). A woman near my town was murdered by her angry alcoholic boyfriend a few years ago. He's in jail now, she's dead (a very gruesome death) and I have no idea what's become of their orphan children.
posie