Controlling Ex Demands To Track 8-Year-Old Son On Trip, Internet Urges Mom To Stay Alert

A lot of the time, divorced people who are fighting over child custody want to move on and not talk to their ex-spouse. But this is hard to do when you co-parent your kids, especially if there was domestic violence or mental abuse in the relationship.

In one case, a mother is still having trouble with her violent ex-husband. He wants to keep her in line by making her put an Apple AirTag in their 8-year-old son’s shoe while the family is on vacation. This tracking request is a big problem for family law and shows how bad things can get when parents work together.

Historical-Safe-7262 on Reddit said that this is just a sneaky way for the dad to keep controlling his ex-wife even after they’ve split up. The mother is holding her ground and not giving in to this way of controlling her kids.

Co-parenting can turn into a nightmare after divorce, especially when there’s a violent history between a couple

The poster is going on a trip to Europe with her 8-year-old son, but her ex-husband insists on putting an AirTag in the kid’s shoe

She refuses to listen to him as she feels like he is just using the kid as an excuse to spy on and control her

The story today may seem short, but if you read between the lines, you’ll find that there is a very important issue with child custody. The original poster (OP) is a mom who wants to take a trip with her son Jack, who is eight years old. But her ex-husband Richard is making things more difficult than they need to be. To keep an eye on their kid on his phone, he wants her to hide an Apple AirTag in Jack’s shoe.

This desire has caused a lot of trouble with co-parenting and made OP doubt herself. Even worse, Richard won’t let her register the AirTag on her own phone, which makes it clear that he needs to be watched and controlled by his parents. Many people think that this demand is too much and too invasive, since he will be 10 hours away and the time difference is 7 hours.

When OP says that Richard has a past of abusing women, things get even worse. Because he is dangerous, all handovers of children must happen at the police station. Just this alone makes family law experts very worried about safety and control.

Daniel Romero took the picture. (not the real picture)
Richard can’t officially stop the trip or make her use the AirTag to track Jack, no matter what he does. But OP thinks this is just someone trying to take over her life again. Other users were scared and agreed with her that this wasn’t about keeping kids safe; it was about tracking and controlling them.

Some people who commented asked if she was going to a dangerous place, but OP said the place she was going is completely safe. It was clear then that Richard is not acting to protect anyone, but to gain power.

A lot of research has shown that controlling behaviour is strongly linked to a higher chance of physical aggression. Given this situation, the fact that the police are already involved shows how bad Richard’s acts are. When the only safe place to swap child custody papers is a police station, that’s a big sign of domestic violence.

Violence is often used as a way to gain power and control, especially in relationships where someone is abusing you, according to study. Richard might feel like he doesn’t have any control over things now that his mother is taking their son on a trip without him. He may be obsessed with using an AirTag to keep track of their child because he feels helpless.

Also, professionals warn that people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are more likely to act violently and dishonestly. People like this hurt others emotionally and play mind games to make others doubt their own worth. That’s exactly what happened to OP—her ex-husband put so much pressure on her that she started to doubt her choices and her power as a mother.

As soon as people on Reddit saw this, they knew it wasn’t just co-parenting strife; it was narcissistic abuse. A lot of people told OP to be careful because her ex might put an AirTag on their child when they see them again. Others were very worried about the safety of the children and said that Richard might do something dangerous if he knows where they are or even fake a “accident.”

And to be honest, we share those worries. You can’t take any risks with someone who has been violent in the past. Protective parenting is very important, especially when there are bad relationships between parents.

So, we want to know what you would do if you were OP. Would you go to court or depend on the family court to protect you? Tell us what you think in the fields below!

After hearing about the ex’s aggressive past, netizens said that the AirTag sounds like a big NO-NO, and asked her to be cautious