Most toddlers act with complete confidence, zero impulse control, and wild imaginations. One minute, they’re playing innocently and giving hugs to everyone.
But the next, they might be doing something that looks like the beginning of a true-crime documentary.
One night, as TikToker Dillon White (@dadchats) was putting his kids to bed, his three-year-old daughter announced that she had something she wanted to talk about.
She started off by saying, “I did something.” Naturally, the alarms went off in his head. The last time she had casually confessed to doing something was the day she went around the house unplugging everything, including lamps, fans, air purifiers, computers, televisions, the coffee maker, and the cordless vacuum that really needed to be charged.
When Dillon asked what she did, she proudly stated that she had put the cat in the oven. After realizing that he hadn’t seen their pet cat in 18 hours, he decided that he needed to check out the oven and make sure their cat wasn’t being cooked alive.
He rushed downstairs and opened up the oven door, bracing himself for the worst. Thankfully, it was empty. However, he did find a stuffed cat in the toy oven of his daughter’s play kitchen set.
The actual cat was alive and well, but it was wandering nearby, as if afraid it was going to be next.
If anyone asks Dillon if there were any signs in the future, he will look back on this moment as a red flag. In the comments section, countless parents pointed out that toddlers just have a special ability to create chaos in ways that adults would never anticipate.
“Just to reassure you, when I was your baby’s age, I put my real cat in the refrigerator because he asked me to. He was fine. Mom got in the habit of checking the fridge multiple times a day, and I grew up not to be a sociopath,” commented one user.
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“I’ve witnessed my three-year-old putting one of her stuffies in her play oven to put it in time out because they’ve been bad while laughing maniacally,” stated another.
“Toddlers know our biggest fears and create new fears. My toddler is traumatizing me in new ways that their siblings have never done, so don’t have an age gap, kids. The babies are unhinged,” chimed in a third.
“I would start checking the oven before you use it…and maybe the washer and dryer for good measure,” advised someone else.
For Dillon, the moment ended in laughter and relief. It also served as a reminder that it might be time to check all appliances and ordinary household objects regularly. You never know what a toddler can turn into a hiding spot.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
