Yes, she should have closed the door, but the reality is that the father was not watching the kid. I have said to my husband "I am loading up the car - watch the kid", and I have intentionally left the door open because I am going in and and out. And you know what... my husband watched the kid and made sure he didn't make a run for it. Even if the door was closed, toddlers are intrepid and the child could have got himself into trouble inside the house just as easily climbing on things and getting up into things he shouldn't have. Sounds like this man is disengaged and not stepping up to being a parent.

Ooookay. All the "it's OPs fault" posters - eventually toddlers learn to open doors. OP could have shut, locked, and deadbolted it and the kid still could have escaped because dad doesn't watch him.

It does not matter if the child is his or not (Unclear in the article). If you are an adult and see a child about to do something dangerous - such as leaving the house to wander into the road - you take action. That is as simple as this gets. No blaming, action instead. The fact that this man knew the child was wandering and did nothing is enough to me to know he is deeply selfish and irresponsible. Maybe it's just me, but I have been known to accost strangers in parking lots who permit their very young children to wander as they put their groceries into the car. Folks - toddlers move fast, often very fast. Even the most diligent and protective parent may not always catch a situation as it unfolds and thus inadvertently put a child in danger. But to see a danger and do nothing is unforgiveable.

He's ridiculous and lazy and refuses to watch or take any time or responsibilities when it comes to his own child. This is a bad sign. The child is in what is called " the terrible 2s" . A toddler CAN learn how to open doors and does get into everything that they can get their hands on. The husband is throwing everything back on OP but ITS HIS KID TOO! He was told that OP was going to the store the 2nd time and was asked to watch the child. Instead the husband decided the phone was more important. Both times that was his priority. OP shouldn't have to have the kid glued to them every minute when it takes 2 people to make a baby and 2 people to be parents. An unsupervised kid could get into all sorts of trouble or danger. There's no excuse for his behavior and he shouldn't be throwing the fact that he's irresponsible and lazy back on OP . I sure wouldn't accept that behavior from the husband considering he was told that you were going out and that he should watch the kid . If he is lazy and irresponsible and continues to throw all of the blame on OP, I wouldn't continue to put up with him either. He would either have to step up and change or he could get out. You're basically doing everything now.

He's obviously and entirely worthless father and partner. Someone that could never be relied on or counted on. Obviously OP can never trust the child with him again and can never leave the child alone with him safely. I can't imagine ever having sex with a worthless POS like this again, so I guess divorce would be the only answer.

Frankly, with one parent that isn't capable of correctly shutting doors and the other that is clearly a waste of oxygen, I'm amazed this child is still alive. It's obvious that OP knows what a s**t parent her husband is, so honestly, it seems neglectful on her part to even leave the kid in his care for even a moment. It's unfair to her to have all that responsibility dumped on her, but that's what being a single parent is going to be like, so she might as well get used to it.

Really smart to reproduce with this loser.

Did he say yes when she told him to watch the son? Because if he was doing his own thing, he may not even have noticed that she said something and left so he doesn't know he should be watching the kid. Something about this story makes me feel like that may be the case.

Oh yeah, you gotta ditch this a*****e immediately.

Husband is a waste of space and should be put out with the trash. OP needs to make sure the door is closed. I have an escape artist dog so there's a dog gate and when unloading I put everything by the front door before bringing it inside.

It sounds like she was only gone for a few minutes each time, and both times the husband failed completely. What would happen if she was hospitalized or had to go out of town for work? She can't be there 100% of the time and reasonably assumed her partner would actually partner. She needs to get away from him before something bad happens to the kid.

I'm guessing the toddler may have grown to the age he knows hpw to open the door. But he doesn't try it when mom is home, only happened because she left and he wants to go to her.

The husband doesn't understand what a parent is.

Yeah this is on both of them, more so him that her. First if the partner is that oblivious, I don't even trust that he heard that she was leaving if he hasn't actually responded. (Which she may have, but she doesn't indicate it in her story when she's informing him he's running solo for a bit). Second, she's careless enough to not properly latch a door twice. Third, they don't have measures in place to prevent this because even if her partner wasn't on their phone, you can't have perfect eyeballs on a child 24/7. And fourth, he clearly doesn't care.