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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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When a working mom got a call from her son’s daycare one afternoon that began with staff telling her “don’t panic,” she did what any parent in her situation might do: she panicked.
However, as the call continued, the predicament her son had ended up in was explained. That was when she stopped panicking and started laughing instead.
It’s natural for a parent to worry about their child’s well-being when they are apart.
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A study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence found that, while this worry can fluctuate depending on age, situation, or personality, parents often wrestle with fears that their child might fall ill or have an accident—something they believe could have been avoided had they been there.
Though the study highlighted that these kinds of concerns are common, the findings also warned of the dangers of children internalizing them over time and becoming more fearful and overly cautious about the world around them.
Parents therefore face a difficult balancing act: showing due care and attention without it becoming suffocating. Sofi Tovey runs and owns an online wooden toy store called Mucky Wolf, named in honor of her son, Wolf.
She has always strived for that delicate balance when it comes to caring for her son. So while the phone call from daycare telling her “Don’t panic” may have put her on edge, she was able to see the funny side of it all.
“They told me Wolf was playing ‘robots’ and had managed to get a wooden block stuck on his head,” Tovey told Newsweek. “They’d tried absolutely everything to get it off and had eventually called the fire department.”
Tovey dropped everything and immediately headed to her son’s daycare. When Tovey arrived, Tovey was greeted by someone unexpected.
“The fire engine arrived just as I got there,” Tovey said.
Wolf had got into quite a predicament, having wedged a square wooden frame around his head. What followed were several awkward minutes, with Tovey recalling that it “took an unusually long time to cut off” the block.
“The whole room was in stitches,” Tovey said. “It was such a funny sight.”
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Thankfully, the fire department was able to remove the wooden block from Wolf’s head, and Wolf soon returned to normal daycare life.
Tovey, however, was so amused that Tovey decided to share the footage on social media.
“I think people can relate to it,” Tovey said. “I’ve read so many stories from parents with similar experiences.”
Ultimately, Tovey hopes Wolf has come away from the experience having learned a valuable lesson.
“I would hope Tovey’s son has learned not to squeeze blocks onto his head again,” Tovey said. “He loved meeting the firefighters and getting to look around the fire engine.”
There is only one thing that still concerns Tovey.
“I’m worried he’ll think getting stuck is a great way to meet firefighters again,” Tovey said.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Emma Lee-Sang.
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