My ex and I share a 14 year old son. We split up when he was just a toddler and have co parented fairly successfully since with ds seeing him EOW and a weeknight.
I would say ex is a decent enough father. Has always been consistent with contact and ds enjoys going there. But the thing that lets him down is his temper. He can go from 0-100 in seconds over the most trivial things. I remember it well from when we were together but thought (hoped) he would grow out of it by the time he reached 40. He really does shout, swear and become very intimidating. He just loses the plot. It can be over something silly like road rage or if someone else has behaved in a way he thinks is unacceptable.
It can be directed at people and ds has told me that he can be really quite awful to his wife (ds stepmum) and their kids. Ds has been on the receiving end of it once or twice when he was perceived to have had a ‘bad attitude’ but I think ds actually knows how to manage his dad which is to keep quiet and let him rant and rave until he runs out of steam.
I’ve always been worried about this impact on ds but because ex is overall a loving dad I haven’t been able to raise it. Ds is due to go abroad next week with his dad and family and has basically confided that he hopes his dad doesn’t ‘lose his rag’ while they’re away. I have of course told him he doesn’t have to go but he says he wants to.
AIBU to worry about this? Would it be worth having a word with my ex? Pretty sure it would be very badly received.