You are doing the right thing. Taking care of your self and your kids. You are showing your kids not to let any one bully them. They are young but this will be valuable lesson further down the road.

I am glad some of your acquaintances are starting to believe you. I was the same way. No one believed me and my H convinced me that people would believe him over me. So I stopped telling people, then I lived in my own personal hell. So in short, you are doing the right thing.