Initially posted in Reddit’s r/AskReddit forum, the post has received over 13,800 votes and over 3,500 comments in the last day. Receiving 94 percent upvotes from the popular subreddit’s 34.7 million members, Redditor u/Slik2665 asked a question directed squarely at people with kids.

“Parents of Reddit,” the Redditor wrote. “What is the worst thing you have seen/confiscated from your child?”

Sharing stories of their children finding illegal drugs concealed in seemingly-harmless containers and scary moments with sharpened kitchen utensils, the “Parents of Reddit” did not disappoint and received thousands of votes themselves within the viral thread’s comment section for their contributions.

In the post’s top comment with over 18,500 votes, Redditor killerqueen5 said they were outdoors with their child, when the 2-year-old delivered them a startling surprise.

“My two year old ran up to me with a small tin she found on the playground,” they wrote. “I opened it up and found some meth.”

While a toddler finding methamphetamine on the playground is a singular story included within the comments of a viral Reddit thread, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reports that children aged 5 and younger have become increasingly vulnerable to accidental exposure to illegal drugs and other harmful substances.

Between 2000 and 2009, the center reported that opioid exposures in children 5 years old and younger increased by 93.2 percent and between 2013 and 2015, exposures to fentanyl and oxycodone increased. Earlier this week, Newsweek reported that an Ohio couple is facing manslaughter charges after their 3-year-old child was poisoned and their 20-month-old died as a result of ingesting fentanyl.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the conversation surrounding drug use and education frequently involves adults and teenagers, but fails to consider younger children and the potential of an accidental exposure to drugs and other illegal substances.

Although the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reports higher rates of accidental exposure to harmful and illegal substances than in previous generations, data shows that younger children have also become more susceptible to other dangers, like swallowing jewelry, toys, magnets and other “foreign bodies.” In a report published in 2019, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System revealed that between 1995 and 2015, children under the age of six swallowed “foreign bodies” twice as often as they did in the two decades before.

Responding to u/Slik2665’s viral r/AskReddit prompt, many parents shared scary stories of their children’s attempts at eating inedible objects, and other objects they’ve confiscated while raising children.

Redditor u/Tammytalkstoomuch, whose comment has received over 1,400 votes, said their son had just started crawling when they noticed something in his mouth.

“My young son was just crawling, and one time I saw he had something in his mouth. He was reluctant to give it up, but I sideswiped his mouth just like on a puppy,” they wrote. “Finally spat it out - a large shard of glass.”

“Absolutely no idea where it came from or where he got it,” they added.

Other parents added scary stories of their own, mentioning other attempts to swallow car keys, USB chargers and small amounts of change, but Redditor u/DMWv1 said their daughter took a liking to the taste of arachnids, and detailed their effort to keep her away from the eight-legged creatures.

“My daughter decided that she liked the taste of spiders for a while, so we had to keep her away from spiders otherwise she would eat them,” they explained. “Those were fun times.”

In an intense comment, Redditor u/Psychological_Bat865 said that their quick thinking prevented their child from harming themselves and described the fear they felt when they found their 2-year-old brandishing one of their most dangerous kitchen utensils.

“My 2 year old figured out how to scoot his high chair across the kitchen and I didn’t realize that was a problem until I went pee one time and came back to him holding a meat cleaver with a giant grin on his face,” they wrote.

“I got it back from him with no damage done, but my soul definitely left my body at the sight of him,” they added.