I Thought My Freezer Was Broken — The Real Reason Was Even Cuter

One fine Sunday, I had everything planned. Dinner was going to be simple — breaded chicken and garlic bread. Something easy, satisfying, and kid-friendly. I opened the freezer and reached for the chicken, but something felt wrong. It was soft. Definitely not frozen.

I paused. Maybe it was just that one bag? Freezers sometimes play tricks, right?

I took it as a small glitch and turned on the oven, placing the chicken inside. I also reached for the garlic bread — same thing. Soft. Not frozen. That’s when I realized: this wasn’t a one-time issue. Something was wrong with the freezer.

I checked the fridge — the light was on. Cold air seemed fine. That ruled out a power problem. It looked like only the freezer had failed. My stomach sank. We had meat, frozen fruits, and other food in there that couldn’t go bad.

I did what any modern adult does in a minor crisis: I Googled it. A few forums said it could be dirty coils on the back of the fridge, blocking airflow. So I unplugged the fridge, turned off the oven timer (thinking I'd come back to it shortly), and pulled the whole thing forward to clean.

And then came the real mess — under the fridge was a treasure trove of kid chaos. Toys, dust, wrappers, a long-lost Thomas train. My kids, of course, got excited and started digging through everything like it was Christmas morning.

While they played, I grabbed the vacuum and cleaned the back coils thoroughly. I even mopped the floor. It felt good to make something clean while the rest of the situation was messy.

Eventually, I plugged the fridge back in, turned around… and completely forgot about the oven.

I had turned off the timer earlier when I got distracted by cleaning a toy one of the kids handed me. That quick 1-minute task turned into 15 minutes of multitasking, cleaning, and supervising playtime. The garlic bread and chicken were still inside the oven, baking quietly — and slowly overcooking.

When I finally remembered, I rushed back. The garlic bread was hard as a rock. The chicken was overdone but still edible — a little dry, but manageable. I served it to the kids, who didn’t seem to notice. They were happy. I put on a cartoon to give myself a moment to think and breathe.

Then came the next issue: the freezer still wasn’t cold. I opened it again. Frozen fruit had melted, water was dripping, and meat was soft. I called my husband and told him, "We need to cook this meat now or it’s going to go bad."

I started wiping the inside of the freezer and trying to reorganize everything. But something still felt off. Why was the fridge working perfectly, but the freezer wasn’t cooling at all?

Then I opened the fridge door one more time — and finally saw the answer.

The temperature dial had been turned all the way down. And next to it? A tiny toy truck, tucked neatly between two water bottles.

That’s when I realized what had happened. My kids had been using the fridge as a “cooling station” for their toys and drinks. They had played with the temperature dial while putting things in and out. They had no idea what they were doing — just curious and having fun.

I turned the dial back up, and within minutes, I heard the soft humming of the freezer starting again. Cold air returned. Later that night, I checked again and saw ice forming in the trays. We were back in business.

Lesson?

Not every problem is mechanical. Sometimes it’s just a curious child, a distracted parent, and a home full of little surprises. And sometimes, a “broken” freezer just needs a little understanding — and a temperature reset.