Why not? put the kid in a baby safe room and block him/her off with a baby gate.
Especially if you're going to be walking away for like 5 minutes or possibly more? Where the hell was the kid in the first place, since I forgot to ask? Since they weren't with you, they should have been put up somewhere.
EXAMPLE: I have two small dogs, that could easily choke and die on something. They are extremely prone to chewing on things. If I left them out all of the time they would die, FOR SURE. So what do I do? I put them in the cage whenever I can't be attentive to them, not for my sake, but for their own. Do you put a kid in a cage? NO, but it just goes to show the type of person I am and that I stop things before they happen, rather than let them happen and then be fucked.
HankDank, I said that my kid is going to get into stuff. I got into stuff and my parents were extremely proactive in trying to protect me. There's just some things that you can't control, I get that. A 2 year old isn't using a fucking chair to stand on to get to the shelf that's chest level, nor would they reach the shelf with a butter knife.
If this was the 5 year old that got into it, things would be a little different. You would expect to be able to leave them for 5 minutes alone, in the other room, but no matter how high you put it, a 5 year old can get to it. That's not your fault, you just have to teach them better. A 2 year old doesn't understand that and as a parent you need to understand that if it isn't within their grasp, they can't get it. I get the logic you're throwing out there everyone that humans are smart, we adapt and conquer. The truth is though, this kid did no type of problem solving, it was literally on a ledge within his reach. Whose fault is that? None but the parents.
TBH the only thing that would have made the situation worse is if you would have scolding him for it. Scold your 5 year old for climbing a chair to reach it on top of the fridge with a broom handle. Don't even think about it if you leave it sitting on a ledge within the kids standing reach. So really, I don't give you kudos at all for not scolding him, that would've just been unnecessary and entirely against any type of good parenting.
Sorry I'm just raging out that people agree that it's okay to do this. lmao.