Two dc 10 & 13. They usually stay with ex once per week and eow but he is staying with his sister who's vulnerable and unwell so they haven't seen him for 4 weeks and won't until this is lifted.
He has asked them both to send him some writing this week. I think he's been on about it for a while as ds1 came off the phone to him on Wednesday quite irate and said, "I need to do this writing for dad, help me." Ds2 said similar but gave less of a fuck - typical of their personalities.
Both dc are doing very well at school and don't struggle with writing at all but ds1 seemed to have built it up a bit and was quite anxious about it. He ended up writing a lovely descriptive piece about walk to a local wood we did the other day (it's 10 mins from the house on foot before anyone starts!). He treated it like a piece of school work and used figurative devices and the like. It was lovely.
Ds2 took a different approach and wrote more of a diary type thing. He basically recounted his day, gently mocked me (took the piss out of my cooking and attempts to decorate 
) and included a couple of emojis and the like, but overall wrote in Standard English and punctuated it accurately. It was completely different from ds1's but equally as lovely in its way. It gave more of an insight into what they've both been up to and really encapsulated ds2's 'voice'. I'd have been thrilled with both pieces in ex's shoes.
Anyway, I'm annoyed because ds1 has had a detailed reply praising his writing, recommending he read some Hemmingway and offering a suggestion to make it all the more wonderful. Ds2 has received no reply. He sent his on Whatsap and can see it's been read so that makes it worse. FFS - all ex had to do was send a couple of positive emojis and he would have been happy, but to send nothing is rude and hurtful. Ex is a wannabe writer and seems to have used this as a way to show off his knowledge rather than, as I had assumed, a way to keep in touch with his kids who are not going to see him for a long time.
The reply for ds1 has come to my email because that's what he sent it on. AIBU to withhold the reply for now and contact ex and tell him to bloody well respond to ds2 otherwise I'm not telling ds1 about his response. This is an ongoing issue - ds1 and ex share hobbies and ds2 is always a little on the outside and now this. And I'm a bloody English teacher (have doubtless made some dreadful error in this post) and don't need ex's pretentious 'advice' to help ds anyway.