Parenting is hard, especially if there are other things that need your attention.

If you tell your child to do something but then they ignore you and get hurt, is it your fault, the child’s fault, or a simple accident?

This man left his son in the kitchen alone for a few minutes to take a call.

So, now his ex-partner is furious, and he’s wondering if he messed up as badly as she claims he did.

Read the story below for all the details.

AITA for leaving my son alone in the kitchen while I took a phone call?

I (28M) have an 8-year-old son.

His mom and I split up a few years ago.

We usually co-parent just fine, but it can get tense.

This man’s son was helping him in the kitchen.

Last weekend, my son was over at my place.

He’s been really into cooking lately, so I let him help me make dinner.

We were chopping vegetables together.

I was supervising closely and had given him a knife. I thought it was safe enough with me right there.

He stepped out for a minute, leaving the child alone in the kitchen.

In the middle of it, I got an important work call I had been waiting for.

I told my son, “Hold on, don’t touch anything. Go watch TV for a minute, I’ll be right back.”

I figured it was better to give him something to focus on so he wouldn’t mess with anything.

When he came back, his son was still cutting the vegetables.

I stepped into the next room to take the call, and I was gone for maybe 2 to 3 minutes.

When I came back, he wasn’t watching TV.

Instead, he had tried to keep cutting the vegetables on his own.

The child got hurt badly.

He ended up slicing his hand really badly.

It was a deep cut, bleeding a lot, and he was crying and scared.

I immediately dropped the call, grabbed a towel, and applied pressure.

I rushed him to urgent care.

He needed several stitches.

His son’s mom was furious.

Later that night, I told his mom what happened, trying to be upfront.

She absolutely lost it.

She said I was irresponsible and accused me of putting work over his safety. She said she’s going to try to limit my custody.

He said he wasn’t being negligent.

I honestly thought he understood when I said to stop and watch TV.

I wasn’t even far away, just one room over, and I would’ve come running if he called.

I wasn’t trying to be negligent, and once I saw he was hurt, I acted immediately.

But he feels bad about the whole thing.

Still, I feel awful.

And now I’m questioning if I handled things as badly as she says I did.

AITA?

It was an unfortunate accident, but maybe next time take the knife away before leaving the kitchen.

Let’s read the reactions of other users to this story on Reddit.

This person gives a sarcastic comment.

This person shares their personal thoughts.

It was an accident, says this person.

While this person says it’s on the kid.

Finally, short and simple.

It’s common sense not to leave a child unattended with a knife.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.