Mom finally discovers where 2-year-old has been hiding a toy, and it’s not good

A North Carolina mother was shocked to discover her toddler son was hiding things around the house in an unconventional way.

Young children love to hide everyday objects. LoveEvery, a drama company that focuses on designing activities to support children’s brain development, says this is known as ‘envelopment’.

“Toddlers are often fascinated by what they can and cannot see. What does something look like when it is covered? How much material does it take to completely hide something? Why do some things change shape when draped over others? When something disappearsHow can you get it back?’” says LoveEvery. ‘Envelopes means that you completely hide objects from view.’

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In that sense, there’s nothing unusual about what Sarah Baker’s 2-year-old son EJ has been up to. It all started during a recent visit to her sister’s house. Baker was in the playroom with her son when he started pointing to a nearby vent and saying the word “orange.”

“My son is two and has a mild speech delay,” Baker said Newsweek. “He’s gotten so much better, but sometimes you still don’t understand what he means. I was worried he’d put a slice of orange in the vent and I didn’t want mold to grow, so I decided to open it up to look at it. .”

When she opened the vent, Baker was quite shocked. “I saw there were a lot of things in there, but I couldn’t see all the way inside. So I decided to record with the flash on; that way I could see all the way inside,” she said. “That’s where the video I posted came into play.”

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The resulting images, which were shared with TikTok under the handle @mylifewithej, shows the full extent of the problem with a variety of toys and other items stashed down there, not just by EJ but by Baker’s nieces and nephews.

“It was a toy for years, and even a dress-up shoe for kids, and also the stuff that my son would shove down there and literally no one noticed but me,” Baker said. “I would say the craziest things I found were probably a crochet hook and some melted crayons.”

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Baker said there was probably about six years’ worth of it toys and other items stuck in the ventilation opening. Fortunately, they have now been removed. “It was so much easier to access than I thought it would be,” Baker said. “I definitely have plans to fix the problem so it doesn’t happen again.”

Sufficiently amused by what had happened, Baker shared the video on TikTok in hopes of getting a good reaction. Many of the answers come from fellow parents who have gone through similar, if not worse, experiences.

“All Hot Wheels discovered and Disney The cars I bought for my son are also shoved into his bedroom vent,” one viewer wrote. “We had to call a company to come in and get my sons because he put the balls from his ball pit in there and they went WAY down there.”

However, a third had it worse, writing: “At least he doesn’t pee in it. My nephews did it for months before my sister caught them in the act.”

The responses make Baker feel a lot better. “All the comments were from other moms telling me I wasn’t alone and it was happening to them and some even worse than me, so I’m very grateful for that,” she said.

In the meantime, she said all parents should check their own vents for something similar. “Because it’s a real fire hazard and a major problem if it’s not found and addressed,” Baker added.

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