5 year olds can climb. Also, sometimes you don't have a choice about where your microwave goes. Mine is in a bottom cabinet near the floor, there just isn't room anywhere else.

Don't most modern microwaves have child locks?

nope they don't have locks.

You must not have kids. They're sneaky as hell. 5 year olds can be tall enough to reach or he could have climbed. That's what kids do. You can literally turn your back away for a few seconds to a minute and they will get into something they're not supposed to.

It's called watching your kids. & yes, I have them & know it's not easy, but that's the choice you made when you chose to be a parent. Kids are quick!

All you have to do is go pee and the 5 year old could've pulled over a chair and used the microwave. 15 seconds tops is all that would take. This is not op's fault at all. But hopefully op has had a serious chat with their kid about not touching the microwave and how it's dangerous and could've hurt her, or burned the house down, or something else just as bad.

Ever heard of climbing? Kids tend to do that. It's not always easy to keep things out of their reach if they climb. Also, who's to say he wasn't told that? You can tell kids over and over not to do something and sometimes they will still do it. Just wait until you have kids of your own. You'll learn.

#32 As far as lessons go I'm sure a lot of people don't place "No silverware in the microwave" lessons at the top of their lists. Most adults are still putting food in the microwaves for their children not letting them operate it themselves.

Grumpy Grinch... at least you already know what you are! Maybe they did start telling him the basics but hadn't gotten to the microwave yet? OR MAYBE he just forgot, kids can be absent minded you know.

Little children learn much better by doing something bad first than just by being told it's bad.

Exactly. You can tell a child over and over that something is bad, but sometimes they still try it anyways! Their little minds are curious, and sometimes they do forget!

A 5 yr old isn't supposed to use the microwave so I can see why a parent wouldn't think to tell them about what should and shouldn't be microwaved. All the kid needs to know is not to touch it at all. And as the others have mentioned, kids always do what they're told not to.

What is up with all these comments saying a 5 year old should know about how microwaves work? You realize that 5 years is when a child is in kindergarten right? So I think it goes without saying the parents haven't exactly taught their kids the fundamental functionalities of a microwave.

People who say that either do not have kids or think they're perfect parents who never turn their backs on their kids for even a second.