When I was with my ex he saw no issue if there was a frog/frogs on the lawn he would deliberately run it over with the lawn mower with the kids watching. He would laugh while doing it. The first time he did it I saw the frog on the lawn and I thought it would be nice to show the kids, teach them about frogs maybe take it to a local park/lake. DH hacked it to bits! 😭 His excuse was that he had always seen his grandfather do this and it was no big deal. MIL got the kids involved in pouring boiling water over ants too. So any attempts to foster empathy for living things was over ridden.
Kids are older now but he still does this. It seems unnecessarily cruel to me and teaches the children a lack of empathy for living things.
AIBU in thinking this is not normal especially in front of children? It was part of a wider pattern of problematic behaviour. No frog is safe! 🐸