My son is 8 and his dad is minimally involved. He never calls and never calls my son back when my son calls first. He doesn’t contribute financially and he only sees my son once a year when my son goes there for about three weeks, mainly to see his cousins and aunt on his dad’s side who keep in touch with my son. My son’s dad tries to act like a parent during this time but he just acts like a big brother with zero responsibilities.

(Please keep in mind my son’s lack of time with his dad is completely on my son’s father. He chooses to be absent.)

He lets my son stay up however late he wants; today I found out that he took my son to a 10 pm movie and then kept him out until 1:30 am. He’s up until midnight, at least, every night.

He lets him have as much electronic time as he wants and eat whatever he wants. Breakfast can include all manner of sugary items and dessert after every meal if my son asks. Almost every meal is fast food unless my son’s grandma or aunt happens to cook. When I talk to my son’s dad about setting boundaries and actually being a parent, he acts like he’s on board with what I’m saying and then i hear from my son that everything is the same.

What can I do, short of saying my son can’t go anymore? He really gets under my skin and all I want is to go get my son and cut them off.