We may well have moved on from this but I cant help feeling for her son who has lived with / been introduced to numerous partners over the years and every time his lifestyle changes as they all seem successful and rich, then once they split back to being 'poor'. I dont think this is modelling healthy relationships for him to learn from.
All he has learned is that women lie, women manipulate and women leave. That they cannot be trusted with his biscuits, his toys, his clothes, his trust and they're always demanding constant attention. The reliable people in his life are largely male - his Dad, his Granddad, his uncles - but apart from his grandmothers, the other women cannot be relied upon, whether that's because they leave or because they're howling, wailing, clawing, helpless little manipulative pixies who have the ability to make him feel bad and guilty and scared for them. The poor lad has learned that women are either utterly toxic or that they just won't be around anymore.
If he turns out to prefer women, he's likely to be either absolutely horrible to them (because they're only going to leave, after all) or so desperate to avoid rejection and anger that he'll find himself locked into an unequal relationship where he's totally manipulated and doesn't know what way is up, unable to voice any needs of his own.
Just look at the list of adverse child experiences he's had;
Poverty.
tit housing.
Frequent moves.
Lack of ownership of toys.
Moving to a big house with a new Mama and sister with no warning.
Moving back from that big house to another one with.
Mother in a violent/abusive relationship with the knock on effects of the undercurrent of abuse.
Mum not being Mum for a bit.
Moving again.
Moving again.
Being taken out his infant school because of a breakdown in relationship between the school and his mother.
Movi-oh, you get the idea.
Mum's new partner.
Mum letting him know that she could be murdered because of her 'job'.
Mum's new partner gone.
Mum reacting to her partner going.
Mum's new partner.
Mum's new partner gone.
Mum reacting to her partner going.
His bedroom being constantly changed, moved around and not feeling like it's his.
Mum's new partner back as a bubble buddy.
Mum's new partner gone again.
His Dad splitting up with his stepmum.
Lockdown.
Mum being 'ill' so that he has to concern himself about whether she's still alive, never mind the wailing about being in pain or many 'accidents'.
Mum being an addict, off her tits on prescription medication.
Mum being an alcoholic, off her tits on alcohol.
Mum being mentally unwell.
Mum having issues around food.
Mum being a
bleeping tit cook.
Mum taking away his escape routes of David Walliams books, Harry Potter books now and policing his thoughts and likes.
No sense of boundaries, space or privacy.
Photos of him in his pants being shared online.
Mum disappearing off to rehabhotel, posting pictures on SM.
Mum back.
Mum's new partner.
There will be a small protective effect in that his Dad and Granddad are always there, dependable and reliable. Grandmas, too. And staying in one school, probably as a result of his Dad insisting upon it/exercising parental responsibility, would have given him some. But it can't possibly mitigate against the constant insecurity he experience in relation to his mother. I'm sure he feels loved. But I'm pretty sure that he doesn't feel safe and secure.