Dear Nothere759
You'll see this is my first post, but I have read this site for many years, and only joined recently. I hope you get to read this before it is removed, because criticism and dissent are not tolerated here.
There are some things you need to know about SI.com if you are going to continue seeking advice here:
1. This site is heavily biased towards reconciliation
Despite pretending otherwise, this site has a very clear bias towards reconciliation. It is visible in countless threads where betrayed spouses have to endure constant calls to soften their stance on adultery and give their cheating spouses some opportunity to reconcile. Another betrayed husband here is almost a year out from his divorce, and is still being relentlessly harassed to get back with his serial-cheating wife. I followed the betrayed husband whose thread you mentioned earlier closely back then (you know, the one whose mention earned you an un-subtle accusation of being a troll...
). He was viciously attacked for staying his course of divorce. He was called "pathetic" (I quote verbatim) by other betrayed husbands for not caving to his cheating wife's attempts at hoovering and manipulation. This is never addressed by moderators, because it fits with the site's pro-R agenda. Instead, they made HIM a pariah, whose name may not even be mentioned on some forums (but since he didn't break any forum rules they couldn't ban him, which is what they really wanted to do).
It is evident in many other aspects too:
* Reconciliation books may be freely recommended, but pro-divorce books are immediately banned from being mentioned. Merely naming such books will get you censored instantly.
* Cheaters are always handled with kid gloves, lest they be offended or scared into leaving, hence any betrayed who sounds off even slightly critical or aggressive is immediately banned.
* Euphemisms like "wayward" and "infidelity" are encouraged in stead of adulterer and cheater, because the tone of all discussions here has to be carefully managed to be as accommodating for cheaters as possible.
* The answers in the FAQ are carefully worded and moderated to the point of being fundamentally dishonest.
* Successfully divorced betrayeds will never be allowed to be Guides or Moderators, lest they actually inspire anyone to leave their cheater by example. These roles are reserved only for reconciliation-cheerleaders and adulterers themselves -- several of whom are real-life friends with identical views (and divorce is NOT an acceptable option for them).
* The founders of the site (a now-dead cheater and her husband) are routinely held up as shining reconciliation-porn for others to aspire to. Questioning anything about their fairy-tale reconciliation story will earn you an instant perma-ban. Look for reviews of this site elsewhere on the web, and you'll see it's not merely my own experience, but that of many former members here too.
2. You present a real problem for the people here
Realize that almost all betrayed spouses who come here, do so because they have no idea what to do. They have no plan, see no way forward, and don't even know how to feel about the betrayal done to them. People like that can be helped with some bog standard advice (send a no-contact, get access to all devices and password, get into IC, etc). And for most people, this is a good start. Once they get some control back though, there really isn't much left to tell them. Any real use for this site fizzles out by then.
You are unlike any other BH who comes here: a man who knows his own mind, knows what he will and will not tolerate, and is firmly set in his decision to divorce. These posters don't know what to do with you. They cannot recommend any of the usual steps for reconciliation, because that's all they know, and you are not interested. The sincere ones can only support you and wish you good luck. That would make for a very short thread though. The ones who feed on drama, however, need you to give them more dirty details so they can pull your choices apart and start to make you doubt yourself. Why do you think they keep pressing you for info about your wife's cheating? It's not for your sake, it's for theirs. They can only indulge their hobby (endlessly debating the merits of your decision) if they can somehow twist your wife's adultery as being "less bad" than their own. They will make judgements about whether it is "reconcilable" or not. And be warned: a one-night-stand is widely considered here as a perfectly forgivable form a adultery. They will be quick to tell you about other husbands who have posted here, and whose wives have committed FAAAAAAARRRRR worse affairs than yours, and if they could make it through, so can you, blah-blah-blah.
By the way, the majority of men who posted on your thread never left their own cheating wives. If you're looking for advice on how to leave an abuser, the LAST person you should ask is an abuse victim who is STILL WITH THEIR ABUSER. Which brings us to the next point:
3. This site is dishonest about the abusive nature of adultery
Routinely, threads pop up here that discuss whether adultery is abuse, and posters almost always agree that it is. And yet, hundreds of those same people recommend to victims of adultery-abuse to stay in their relationships ("wait-and-see, give it some time, don't make any hasty decisions", etc).
If a woman complained that her husband was beating her, she would be firmly told to get the hell out of the house, get to safety, and DIVORCE THE ABUSIVE BASTARD. But if that same woman states that her husband is committing adultery (with all the accompanying abuse: emotional, psychological, financial, and yes, physical - think STD's), she is told to hang in there, do the 180, go to counselling, not make any rash decisions she can't take back, etc. Even the thinnest straw of a chance that this marriage may be prolonged has to be grabbed with both hands, because around here, staying married is somehow considered a grand prize worth all kinds of suffering.
4. This site is dishonest about the ugly truth of reconciliation
An entire forum here is dedicated to "Positive Reconciliation Stories". This is where hopeful, naive betrayeds can get a shot of hopium about how their own adultery-ravaged marriages can come out better on the other side. But have you noticed there is no forum for "Failed Reconciliation Stories"? This site is littered with the corpses of betrayeds who have tried mightily in the face of tremendous pain and trauma to reconcile with their abusers, only to be dealt another death-blow by the same cheater months, or even years later.
Google a few of the reconciliation threads from around 2013-2015, and look at the signatures at the bottom of the posts. You'll see a pattern: the betrayed waxing lyrical about how well their R is going in the post, and then in the signature it will say: "D-DAY 2: 2018, Divorced". There are more of those here than anyone can count, but you will never hear about them from the posters on this thread, because they have an agenda to get you to reconcile. If they can get you to try, they will consider it a success for them. They will not hesitate to twist your Christian faith against you (misquoting the Bible and ripping passages out of context is standard procedure here). Guilting you for being "unforgiving" is already taking shape... just watch.
The ugly truth is: reconciliation requires a tremendous amount of shit-eating on your part. You will have to violate every single principle you have ever held about loyalty, integrity and marriage. For people who never had any, that's easy. But for you, it will end in self-loathing and misery. You will HATE yourself for taking her back.
And just remember: when she does this to you again, none of these reconciliation-cheerleaders will be there to pick up the pieces for you. You will be just alone as you are now, only with more wasted years and more pain to deal with. You are right: THIS IS WHO SHE IS. No matter how many times a snake sheds its skin, it is still the same snake.
In summary: use whatever advice you like from here, but be aware that far more people here want to see you stay married to an adulterer than want to see you divorced. Take their inputs with a large dose of skepticism.
One final word: you will be making a big mistake by pushing your children's relationship with their mother. Understand that she betrayed them too. She destroyed their home, their security and their views on love, loyalty and commitment. They need to grieve this loss (please get them a good therapist!). They are also traumatized and any like any trauma victim they need to GET DISTANCE FROM THE SOURCE OF THEIR TRAUMA in order to heal. Please do not force them to interact with her when they are not ready. They will resent you for it, and NOTHING GOOD will come from that. She damaged them, please don't add to that damage.
I wish you peace and healing away from your disgraceful, adulterous, soon-to-be ex-wife.