"I’m Wasting Away" — Woman Accidentally Child-Locks Her Dinner in the Oven

Some of the simplest tasks in life can somehow become the most complicated. It’s not that we’re dense or incapable of understanding how to do them, it’s just that every now and again, we have mental slip-ups causing our brains to malfunction. Like when you can’t figure out how to put two pieces of wood together while building a desk, or how to unlock the childproof feature on your oven, even though the manual explains exactly how to do it.

TikToker Dani (@dani_b_unfiltered) experienced the latter and was generous enough to share her breakdown on TikTok. And honestly, it was quite entertaining (sorry, Dani!). After placing a potato in the oven, Dani somehow activated the child lock feature and couldn’t undo her mistake. She even consulted the instruction manual.

Here’s her story, and an update on whether she ever got that potato out.

So, as I mentioned, Dani decided to make a potato in the oven, and somewhere in the process of setting the timer or temperature, she accidentally activated the child lock, and then couldn’t figure out how to get it open. “The only way to undo it is to do what you did, but I don’t know what I’ve done,” she says in frustration after reading some guidance online.

As she keeps scrolling for advice, the only consistent tip she finds is “consult your manual,” to which she fires back, “Consult your manual? This is a rental!” For those unaware, rentals typically don't come with appliance manuals. Convenient, I know!

Now, while it’s definitely not funny to be locked out of the food you desperately want when you’re hungry, Dani’s mini meltdown is actually kind of hilarious. She sprinkles in just enough sarcastic commentary to make the situation feel more like a comedy bit than a cooking crisis.

At one point she asks, “Who child locks an oven?” before answering her own question: “Lots of people. I think it’s genius. I think it’s a very safe and acceptable thing to do.”

By this point, it’s clear Dani is less mad at the oven and more frustrated with herself for not being able to figure it out. Still, she doesn’t give up. For at least an hour, she tries holding down different button combos, only to be met with an “error” message.

And, even after consulting the manual (I guess she had one after all!), she still couldn’t get it open. So no, Dani doesn’t get her potato out, in the first video at least.

But a week later (yes, a full week), Dani returns to TikTok with an update, revealing the oven had remained locked the entire time. During that time, she says she’s been “living off cereal, toast,” and cooking everything in her air fryer, including scrambled eggs, which she does not recommend.

But then, finally, a silver lining came after the week went by and her roommate, who had apparently been away, comes home. Dani fills her in on the hostage-potato situation, and the roommate does what any clear-headed adult would, grabs the manual. In just three and a half minutes, she gets the oven open and retrieves the potato, which Dani says was basically ash at that point.

Turns out, Dani had been pressing the wrong buttons the entire time. All she needed to do was hold down the plus and minus buttons, just like the instructions said. It was right there… it just didn’t click.

Anyway, I'm happy Dani finally got her oven open, and something tells me she’ll never forget how to unlock it should it ever happen again.