Slapping kids across the face should be an extremely rare response, called forth by only the most egregious bad behavior. Even then, it's probably never the most effective way of redirecting a child's behavior. Your daughters, by now, are probably expert at not provoking this response from their mother. See to it that you shower them with the warmth that might be otherwise absent from their lives. How much time do you spend with them? Daughters love attention from dads.

Probably every parent who is human has a favorite child, if there is more than one child in the house. If Mom favors the sports-star kid, then you do something special with the other daughter.

Your daughters didn't get to select who they would have for a mother. You made that choice for them. If you now think you might have made a better choice, well - it's too late. Their mother is who she is. She's not a monster, but she's a robot. Your daughters love her, but one of them hates her. You might want to re-read your posts and decide what you really want to say. Here's what I'm hearing: "I'm not the kind of guy who dumps on his ex. Why, I even tend to blame myself for what went wrong. Now, let me tell you about this cold, miserable byeetch." That's what I'm hearing.

IF your daughters are being abused, then petition the courts for custody and ask to take over the job of parenting them by yourself. (In any case, after a few years, they will have more of a say, themselves, over where they spend there time.) Meanwhile, be the best father you can be. What are your plans for the summer to do something special with them?