My parents split when I was 10. During that time I was told a lot of bs, but what it boiled down to was the fact that my mom was cheating on my dad. My mom took me to live with my gramma (in a trailer, no less). I wanted to be with my dad, but my mom more or less stole me from him.

It resulted in about 7 years of my mis-directed hatred towards my father (mom told me a lot of bs about him) and being toted around from house to house (and ultimately being sexually abused by some guy my mom was with). So, all in all, it really, really sucked. I lost my home, my things, my pets, and my parents (mom was too busy with her boyfriends, dad was lost in this haze of drugs and depression). To look on the bright side, I suppose a few good things may have come of it, and it was nice not to have to listen to them fight anymore (though I did have to listen to mom fight with various boyfriends).

As for not trying to work things out... that's pretty much what happened. My dad was willing, my mom wasnt.

Divorce is far too popular these days, I wish people would really try to fix things, especially when kids are involved.