10 Times Kids Created Absolute Chaos in Just Seconds

Sometimes, all it takes is a few seconds of distraction for total chaos to unfold. Parents everywhere have experienced those heart-stopping moments when their kids vanish, cause unexpected disasters, or get into the strangest situations. From hilarious mishaps to shocking surprises, these real-life stories prove that with children, you should always expect the unexpected!

• I was cleaning the living room and asked my five-year-old son to help pick up his toys. A few minutes later, he proudly shouted, "Dad, I cleaned everything up!" I walked into his room and froze… The toys were indeed gone—because he had stuffed them all into the toilet and tried to flush them! I managed to stop the water disaster, but the plumber had a good laugh while pulling out a whole collection of cars and dinosaurs from the pipes. Now, I always keep an eye on him when he’s "cleaning up."

• When our daughter was around 3 and our son was 2, my wife went into the garage to grab a frozen pizza out of the deep freezer. One of the kids, not sure which one, shut the door and locked her in. She was banging on the door and could hear the little boogers laughing at her inside.
  My wife was not amused; she got a flathead screwdriver from my toolbox and managed to unlock the door. This all took about 15 minutes. When she got back in the house, they were in their room watching cartoons and eating cookies they had managed to steal.
  They would’ve left her out there all night! We have kept a spare key hidden in the garage ever since. © 1980pzx / Reddit

• I was just 2. My parents took a trip to the beach. They were distracted by my brother and didn’t notice me wander into the water.
  When they looked up, all they could see was my hat floating away. Dad rushed into the sea and discovered that I was still wearing the hat, but I was somehow floating completely vertically, with just the hat showing above the water. © lankymjc / Reddit

• I stepped away to use the toilet, leaving my newborn asleep on a blanket on the floor, nestled on a large, fluffy carpet. My 3YO was watching TV nearby.
  When I returned, I was shocked to find the baby literally rolled up in the carpet like a little bundle, with my toddler sitting on top, a cushion under him for good measure. I still can’t figure out how he managed to do it so quickly, and how the baby was completely calm and unharmed. © peripateticpeople / Reddit

• My dad was watching my two cousins and me play SNES down in our den when he got up to pee. Somehow, in the 2 to 5 minutes he was gone, we had gotten one of my cousins on the treadmill, angled it into a downhill descent (I’m pretty sure we're the reason treadmills no longer have these features), and jerked the dial all the way to max speed.
  My dad came in just in time to watch my cousin and me launch our other cousin four feet through the air into the wall. No worries, nothing was broken, but trying to explain why my cousin had a big pump knot on her head got my dad in a lot of trouble. © unctuous_homunculus / Reddit

• I was in college and had a club meeting. Some of the people involved were non-traditional students with a toddler, and they had the kid there at the time. OK, no big deal; he was pretty much entertaining himself.
  The parents were trying to pay attention to what was going on, much like the rest of us, when one guy jumped out of his chair with a yell and grabbed the kid. It turns out the kid had been playing with his dad's keys and was headed for the electrical outlet with them. © shaodyn / Reddit

• My son was 3. We were leaving Target when he slipped out of my sight as I was adjusting my bags—maybe two seconds, tops. Poof. He was gone.
  The store locked down, and we were all looking for him. People were checking cars outside. I was calling my son’s name louder than any intercom system. We were just about to call the police when my toddler slid out from the cart area and acted like, “Sup?”
  He decided it would be a brilliant idea to shimmy underneath the carts and sit there while the world turned inside out, searching for him. I hugged him and yelled at him for a good 10 minutes, ugly sobbing.
  I was grateful for my Target folks. We catered lunch for them as a huge “Thank You”. © Italics12 / Reddit

• I had the door unlocked, so maintenance could come in and out while working on something. My daughter and I heard the TV turn on, and sure enough, there was some little blonde girl with cute pigtails just plopped down watching cartoons.
  It turned out the toddler just kinda wandered into my apartment. I can only imagine how panicked her parents must have been. © GarbageDayyyyy / Reddit

• I had taken my four-year-old daughter into a public toilet in France, which was next to a main road. As we left, I let go of her hand for a split second to close the door behind us. When I looked back, she was running into the main road because she had seen her mom on the other side.
  From where I stood, my view of the road was obstructed, so I couldn't see if any cars were coming, and she had gone too far for me to catch her. By a complete miracle, she safely made it across the road. It sends shivers down my spine, remembering the helpless terror I felt when I saw her in the middle of the road. © Goose-rider3000 / Reddit

• I went to the kitchen to heat up lunch while my 4-year-old daughter watched TV in the next room. Three minutes later, she was gone. I searched every room, checked the yard—nothing. Panicked, I called my husband, and he rushed home. What we discovered next left us in complete shock! Just as we were about to call the police, he noticed our cat staring at a suitcase in the closet. She had climbed inside, half-closed the zipper… and fallen asleep!

And here are more kids who know exactly how to test their parents’ nerves.