Parents need to have eyes in the back of their heads - especially if their child has a tendency to wander away when their back is turned. A frustrated mum taught her boyfriend a hard lesson after he showed little to no regard for his toddler's safety when spending an afternoon with him.
Speaking to Reddit, the 23-year-old woman explained how she lives with her boyfriend, Hank, their three-year-old son, Bobby, and Hank's dog, Ladybird. She said: "Hank has had Ladybird since before we got together about five years ago. I'm actually allergic to dogs but I make do because I know Ladybird means a lot to him and I've grown to love her as if I have had her my whole life.
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"We both have full-time jobs and split the housework just fine but when it comes to Bobby, I feel like Hank treats Ladybird better sometimes."
She believes her 26-year-old boyfriend shows "much more" interest in Ladybird than Bobby as he routinely greets the dog before his own son when coming home from work.
"Hank will come home and go straight to Ladybird to play and cuddle and talk to her. But he never stops off to see how Bobby is doing. If he’s eaten or if he had a bad day in day care or anything," she added.
"I assume he’s thinking 'he's with mama so everything’s good' but I feel it’s not too much to ask for an acknowledgment when he first gets home."
The woman explained how Hank failed to watch out for Bobby's safety when looking after him while she was at work - resulting in him going missing.
She said: "Last month, on Hank's day off, I had Bobby out of day care since he was sniffy and I didn’t want to risk it so Hank watched him.
"When I came home from work Hank was watching TV and I couldn’t find Bobby. Hank was being blasé about it all saying 'he's around somewhere playing'.
"I was about to call the police because I saw the back door open with one of those bulk snack boxes by it when a neighbour that lives three houses down came by to drop Bobby off.
"She told me he came through their doggy door and was trying to get into their daughters room (they have a five-year-old daughter that Bobby plays with a few times a week).
"Obviously I was freaked out but thankful he went to a "safe place”. I yelled at Hank for not watching him and he told me to calm down because it all worked out fine."
In an attempt to teach him a lesson, she staged the exact same situation but with Ladybird this time to see how Hank would react to his dog going missing instead.
"I waited for things to calm down then a few days ago I snuck home early on Hank's day off and grabbed Ladybird and gave her to the same neighbour to watch," she added.
"I made a big show of coming in noisily after and purposely left the back door open. Things were cool for a bit until he tried calling for Ladybird. I just kept playing along until he noticed the door.
"He freaked out saying I wasn’t careful and that Ladybird could be killed out there. He literally ran in just his shorts (no shirt/shoes) outside screaming her name and freaking out.
"During the time, I texted my neighbour to start walking the dog down. He saw her as he was about to get in his car and grabbed her and went inside.
"He yelled at me calling me irresponsible saying she could have been stolen or killed. I asked how he thought I felt when I couldn’t find our literal child.
"He said it didn’t compare and Bobby was just at the neighbours and we live in a 'safe' neighbourhood so nothing would have happened.
"I honestly didn’t have anything to say to that. I packed a bag for Bobby and I and we stayed at a hotel for a bit. I’m checking out tomorrow but I’m still angry. Hanks been texting me saying I’m childish but I think he’s not taking this serious enough."
Do you have a dog story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
