What can I do, if anything

[Worldwide99]

Divorced and trying to co-parent with ex. We have two children. Our youngest is a six year old boy. Lovely, kind, sensitive gorgeous boy. Ex is a misogynist. Everything is about appearance, looks, money, him being worshipped: he had numerous affairs and is all round horrid. I don’t communicate this to my children, I very much parent them with empathy, love and kindness and my home is a safe space. It is all I can do. Six year old has started of late, doing press ups against the wall, push ups etc and flexing his muscles. I laughed it off the first couple of times but yesterday evening, DS remarked that his father counts his push ups and press ups to see if he is fit enough. I said oh, okay and how do you feel about that. What is you said no, I don’t want to and DS said I don’t know. My son is six, surely this is ridiculous!

It is ridiculous but you can’t do much about it whilst he’s in his care. He’s technically making him exercise and courts would probably call it a difference in parenting styles. I would instead focus on making sure that your son knew his value isn’t in his muscles but in who he is as a kind, loving human being. I would also focus on helping your son assert himself and learning about healthy boundaries. Try to empower him to be able to say no when he wants to, no matter who it is he’s saying no to. If he doesn’t want to do push ups, he doesn’t have to.