There’s no need for chit chat with the ex now, is there? Stepsons are old enough for you to contact them directly.
Here’s how I trained my exH to communicate with me by email (now in this case, he was prone to spewing, so the need to reduce communication was real, but we also had to have some communication about college finances).
If he called, I would let it go to voicemail and respond via text. Once he was trained to text me, I would respond with emails. Now he always emails me, and since our kids are out of college now, thankfully I never hear from him.
