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40 Nosy Parents Who Got More Than They Bargained For While Digging Through Kids’ Rooms
Interview With Expert
Children will eventually get to an age where they will want more privacy. They may keep themselves in their rooms for hours on end, making their activities within those four walls a mystery to those around them.
That lack of transparency has led many parents to stumble upon some of the strangest items in their kids’ rooms. They shared their discoveries in this Reddit thread from more than a decade ago, and the discussion remains relevant today.
People opened up about finding women’s underwear stuffed in a pillow, wet diapers, and books glued to the window, among other things. If you’ve had any similar experiences, we’d love to hear about them in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I thought my mom was going through my room, so I set up my webcam to record on motion.
Sure enough she was rifling though everything. Eventually she opened a drawer and found a very realistic looking d***o (It was really water gun that I got as a gag gift).
She inspected it and had the most terrified confused look on her face.
She stopped searching my room.
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#2
My daughter once hid eggs, flour and sugar so she had an emergency pancake stash.
She brought it out when she asked her grandma if they could make pancakes and they didn't have any flour or eggs. She was 4 years old at the time.
#3
When I was about twelve my parents freaked out and almost made me go to a psychiatrist because they found a noose in my room. I was not s******l. I just had some rope and was bored and wanted to see if I could figure out how to tie one. It took me forever to convince them of that, though.
We had the opportunity to speak with some experts, who were gracious enough to share their insights with us. One of them is Elaine Taylor-Klaus, CPCC, MCC, certified parenting coach and CEO of Impact Parents.
As she tells Bored Panda, parents must first and foremost approach such situations with curiosity. Asking questions like, “Was it something the kid discovered on their own?” or “Did someone else introduce it to them?” instead of assuming that you know what’s going on.
#4
Dead birds hidden inside of a Thomas the Tank lunchbox...some were skeletonized, some were mummified, and a couple were...fresh... he was about 4 at the time...
#5
When I was little I had a wall covered with obituaries. I wonder what did my mom think about it.
troufaki13 3 months ago
When I was little, I used to go to the cemetery with my grandma to light a candle for all our deceased relatives. I used to wander around trying to find the graves of the youngest people buried there 😬
#6
I am not my parents but I found about 13 pair of panties from one of my best friends younger sister between my brothers box spring and mattress. He was 17 and she was 15. I told him I would beat him within an inch of his life if I ever caught him doing something like that again.
Family and life coach Randi Crawford describes weird stuff in a kid’s room as a “universal law of childhood.” While she also urges approaching with curiosity instead of a “detective’s badge,” she also discourages sharing it on social media for strangers to see.
“Your goal is trust and connection with your child; this isn’t Law & Order SVU, it’s their life,” Crawford said. “And we want them to come to us in times of trouble.”
#7
Kittens. Her dolls got kicked out of their dream house so the kittens could have their own rooms.
#8
Over the years I've found many weird things in my son's room (he's now 13). A few of them are: A jar of urine, a blowtorch, a utility knife, various hunting knives (many of these were stolen from my dad's house), toothpaste smeared all over his walls and shelves.
#9
Rice. My 6 yo son was hiding rice in his closet.
For licensed marriage and family therapist Jason Aaronson, it’s about finding the balance between knowing what’s going on and maintaining the child’s personal space. And if the said items don’t constitute danger, Aaronson urges approaching with nurture, not judgment.
“It is better to lower their defenses and provide them with the space to voice their opinions. A good example would be framing a conversation without mentioning the specific object in question,” said Aaronson, who is also the executive and clinical director of Golden Road Recovery.
#10
My sister and I shared a bedroom. My dad built us these beautiful beds with dresser drawers in the bottom. One day I was studying in my room with my friend and we heard a strange noise coming from my sister's bed. It was a baby mockingbird. It was all cute and scraggly and chripping...and then...its beak caught on a sock and it broke its neck right in front of us.
Another time, my mom found a bowl of dirt in our room. She asked my sister why there was a bowl of dirt in our room. "Oh no!" she cried, "my worms escaped!".
#11
I enjoyed my son's mix and match lego man collection. Harry Potter with a Darth Vader head was the first thing to make me smile all day.
#12
We are not religious, but we got a nativity scene as a gift we put out for Christmas.
My daughter, who turned 5 yesterday, has been taking the baby Jesus and hiding him in the 2nd drawer of her dresser under her pajamas.
This is the 3rd year this has been happening and she still does it. She has no answers or excuses.
It is a parent’s instinct to want to talk to their child upon finding something they have deemed unusual. And if you must do so, Taylor-Klaus emphasized the importance of asking permission about having an uncomfortable conversation.
She also strongly advises against making accusations, instead giving the benefit of the doubt.
#13
Garbage. Candy wrappers, old batteries, chewing gum, bottle caps, torn up baseball cards, bits of string... a 2x2x3' box of garbage. None of it would have been an issue, but he (11 yo) was hoarding/hiding it. And there were actual toys in it too. I'm still confused.
#14
A dictionary under her pillow. Her reasoning? She could learn in her sleep.
#15
I am actually the proud father of quadruplets (four girls). A few years ago when they were 7 years old i found a small selection of rare katana swords, elite combat knives and ninja throwing stars in a shared walk-in wardrobe belonging to two of my girls. The swords were mounted. It was an immaculate collection and actually looked pretty amazing when i look back but at the time i was confused and disturbed. Now none of the girls have shown any proclivity towards traditional oriental combat techniques, whether armed or unarmed. They enjoy dance, socialising and One Direction. All the girls deny any knowledge of how they got there and it remains a mystery to this day.
Tobias Reaper 3 months ago
dude hate to break it to you but your daughters are assassins trust me i would know
Embarrassing a child about your discovery is also a huge no-no, according to Crawford. Instead of giving lectures, she advises keeping conversations short and neutral.
“This is where you want to listen more than you talk because your goal is to have an open conversation, not a cross-examination,” Crawford said.
#16
Pentagram drawn on a piece of paper and my name scrawled next to it.
Anthony Elmore 3 months ago
I don't mean to alarm you but that kid put a spell on you. Good news, regardless of the child's intent, the pentagram is generally a protective symbol, so that spell's going to backfire hilariously. Enjoy your newfound immunity to being attacked by groups of spiders in the middle of the night.
#17
When I came back from college I slept in my old room which is now my parent's office. Every morning bright and early my mom or dad was in there and began clicking away on the keyboard like a cat pawing at a mouse. One day two of my sisters came in as well to check out something on the computer with my mom. Then my dog came in and stuck her nose in between my mattress and boxspring and pulled a weeks worth of fapkins out and starting eating them. I thought my mom was going to throw up.
#18
Was looking for something in my son's room. Found out that he's been stashing rocks in the bottom drawer of his dresser. As in rocks he found in the garden (he's only 7). Explanation: "They're interesting". Maybe he wants to be a geologist some day.
Children may reach a point where they explore “weird” stuff as a way to fulfill their curiosity. But where does a parent draw the line between “this is typical kid behavior” and “this is a cause for concern?” Crawford says it’s when you begin finding “unidentifiable things” that may potentially cause harm.
“If it makes you pause, then absolutely trust that instinct. Nothing is stronger than a mom’s gut,” she said.
#19
My daughter (now 5) has a habit of plundering the bathroom when she's supposed to be sleeping. We've found every container of: makeup, toothpaste, soap, shampoo. But the worst of it was the nail polish.
She raided the nail polish, opened all of maybe 15 bottles and covered herself in it. It was completely covering both arms about to the tops of the biceps. She had smears of it on her face, stomach, back, legs even in her hair. It was all over the floor, the cabinets, the bathroom door handle, her room door handles, a trail on the floor, a big puddle on the hardwood floor in her room and a big puddle on her night stand.
When she was still in diapers, she figured out how to take them off herself. She took one off and smeared poop all over the walls.
Another time about that same age, she covered herself and all her toys and bedding with an entire pound of Vaseline. She did the same with a whole pound of Triple Paste. Except that time, she added a stripe around the entire perimeter of her room.
Joshua David 3 months ago
Reason # 15432467 why i am glad i didnt have kids. No and NO. I'm too selfish anyway.
#20
A copy of twilight. He swears his girlfriend gave it to him and he never touched it.
#21
A piece of toast was under my cousins bed... I just picked it up, looked at it then put it back.
Meanwhile, Aaronson advises keeping an eye on behavioral patterns. If the child suddenly becomes secretive or withdraws from their social circles, that’s when you may need to sound the alarm and have the conversation.
“It is okay to trust your gut as a parent, but do seek to do further investigation and get an expert's opinion if alarming behavior is the issue,” he said.
#22
When my son was 11, we found a wet diaper in his cupboard.
He claimed he found it outside when we asked him about it.
#23
Books glued to the window.
#24
I don't know why, but when I was a kid I used to hide chicken bones under my bed. My parents gave me s**t for it for a long time. I think my little-kid brain I thought I was saving the actual chickens that way.
Some parents may think it is their right to know everything about their children, and that’s when the relationship dynamic may get complicated, even ruined. Taylor-Klaus says it’s more about making keen observations.
“It’s a parent’s responsibility to pay attention to their kids and notice when the child might be in need of help, direction, support, or supervision,” she said.
#25
The booger wall.
When Peggy mentioned Bobby's on King of the Hill, my daughter almost died of embarrassment.
Tarryn 3 months ago
My fiancé had one too growing up apparently. I realized it was the truth when I flipped over his computer chair one day to try and spray away the squeaking noise, only to find the underside completely covered in boogies. I threw it in the bin and told him to use a fkn tissue.
#26
My 10 year old had a pillow that was stuffed with ladies underwear not sure where he got it all from he had at least 20 pairs of it in the pillow case.
#27
I found some little post-it notes on my 7 year old's desk. She had written things like "I can k**l you" and "you are going to jail" and frowny faces with jail bars drawn in front of them. Freaked me out!! My daughter is the sweetest, most thoughtful, and responsible little blonde moppet you can imagine, and then there was that!
I carefully asked her about them and she said drew them while she was watching a loony tunes episode. She thought my concern was hilarious. I casually left them on my husband's bedside table that night in hopes of freaking him out but he didn't notice them. I eventually showed him and he got that same look of panic that I had probably had at first. :-).
BookFanatic 3 months ago
My dad found my list of "Grown Up Words" when I was seven-- F**k s**t d**n p**s a*s b**b pretzel. (Listing them out mainly to annoy the BP censor bot) He told me I could only use the one that ended in "L." Lol
Effective parenting is about finding that happy medium. As veteran psychologist Dr. Lisa Lovelace explains, a parent’s responsibility is ensuring safety while also fostering independence.
“Think of it as moving from ‘manager’ to ‘consultant’—gradually giving more privacy as your child shows readiness, while keeping the door open for honest conversations,” she stated.
#28
She stole the eggs out of my fridge and proceeded to "cook" with them. Found them in her little play oven in a pot, none of them broke. That's my girl.
Feathered Dinosaur 3 months ago
If that was im the US today the family would have been ruined by the cost
#29
In elementary and middle school my sister had a thing with tape. She put hundreds of strips on the underside of all our furniture. We still have no trouble finding strips if we look.
#30
My mom once found cherries in my sisters piggy bank. My sister didn't want to share, so she decided to horde them.
Edit: she found them because there was fruit flies in my sisters bedroom. Why? Because moldy cherries.
Melanie Linehan 3 months ago
Been there! I found my daughter's jewelry box covered in ants, when she was 7, because she had put part of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in. Here explanation was that she was saving it for later, and she forgot about it. I asked why did she put it in the jewelry box, and she said, so it wouldn't dry out.
For Crawford, it’s about a parent building trust with their children. As most experts would advise, she also emphasized the importance of making it easy for the kid to approach their parents if they have made a mistake, gone too far, or need support.
“We don’t need to touch a hot stove more than once to learn that it’s a bad idea if you don’t want to get burned,” she said. “It’s when you take over, jump in, and try to live their life that makes them more curious and want to try more risky behaviors.”
#32
Little tiny toy box (lego-sized) my son pissed in it, found it when I was cleaning his room. Smelled like someone had thrown rotten eggs into a pile of death. This was about twelve years ago. He's 19 now, and I still bring it up all the time.
#33
My Mom went to move the furniture in my room in order to paint the walls when I was about ten. She found everything tied together with odd bits of ribbon, string, and rope. I have no idea why I did this and she made me untie everything before she would start painting.
At this same time she decided to use that vacuum that washes the carpet. She found a section that just sudded up. I was to embarrassed to admit that, years ago, I had put some of her fancy shampoo into a dixie cup so that I could use it only to discover the next day that the cup had disintegrated and the shampoo had gotten over my entire dresser. I cleaned up everything I could see but forgot that carpet was absorbent.
Edit: typos (the kindle is not reddit-friendly...).
Melanie Filmer 3 months ago
Kids do weird sh*t for reasons unknown even to themselves. I have 5 kids (16-22 now) and the stuff they did growing up is baffling.
#34
A salamander. My son it outside and brought it in. He set up a bowl and kept it in his room. He fessed up after a couple of days that he had it. I let him keep it and he had it for a year then finally he let it go. It was a good experience for us.
#35
My sister's cash and jewelry would go missing, along with my brother in laws watches and pocket change... They found all their missing stuff in my nieces bedside table... thing is, she was 3. this continued happening until she realized what she was doing was wrong. When something went missing they knew where it was.
#36
I found a bunch of boxes of tampons under my son Louie's bed once.
#37
Not a parent, but I live with friends that have kids. I had recently moved in and the then 4 year old boy was a bit of a secretive klepto. things would go missing only to turn up in his room later; one such occasion was a vibrator of mine that he stole out of my room. From under my pillow. He got a talk about other peoples things.
He also stole my cell phone around midnight one time and managed to call my very recent ex and hung up on him. Ex calls back, kid hangs up cycle repeats for 30 mins (what the ex told me). I woke up the next morning with no cover on my cell and a very worried ex; I of course was totally oblivious to his midnight calls. Later that day found my cell phone cover in his room after the kid denied having taken it in the middle of the night. He did have enough sense to put my phone back on my bedside table though.
Luckily he's much better now and has for the most part stopped stealing.
BookFanatic 3 months ago
Glad he's over it. A friend's tween got into the habit of taking what wasn't hers...to the point where Mom and Dad's room is locked, there are cameras everywhere, and all guests are instructed to zip up their luggage and keep their purse/wallet within eyesight at all times.
#38
When I was a kid, I loved to cook, but wasn't allowed to use the oven when home alone. This didn't stop me, one day I was making garlic cheese biscuits (like at Red Lobster) and my mom called to tell me she was coming home. I panicked and hid them in a ziploc in my backpack. A couple weeks pass and I get grounded/royally bitched out for having "d***s" in my bag. She showed my dad, he said, "It just looks like a moldy sandwich" but she was CONVINCED they were D***S!
Anthony Elmore 3 months ago
I have it on good authority from Dr Benjamin that moldy garlic biscuits are prime medium for growing Psilocybin, that crafty little devil.
#39
When I was in high school my mom snooped in my room and stole both my vibrators. We never acknowledged it.
#40
I found a notebook underneath my baby cousins bed, it had very advanced Calculus written all over it and neither my Aunt or Uncle knows Calculus.
EDIT:My baby cousin is a girl, stop saying "him" please.
Anthony Elmore 3 months ago
Sexism bait. OP was totally waiting for the first chance to include that edit, and I'm willing to be it had quite a positive impact on the vote count for their post.
What do you think ?
Wysteria_Rose 3 months ago
Towards the end of my baby teeth losing era, I started keeping any tooth that fell out without telling anyone. I don't know why, I just didn't want to lose them, so I put them in my top dresser drawer on top of a book. I would just check on them from time to time. One night, my dad was putting me to bed and was shutting the drawer when he noticed. He looked at me with full concern and said, "Are these teeth?" I nodded. "Are they YOUR teeth?" I nodded again. "Okay, well, we don't keep our teeth. We give them to the tooth fairy, okay? How about I give you five dollars for all of these and you let me send them along to her." I nodded and we never spoke of it again.
Wysteria_Rose 3 months ago
Towards the end of my baby teeth losing era, I started keeping any tooth that fell out without telling anyone. I don't know why, I just didn't want to lose them, so I put them in my top dresser drawer on top of a book. I would just check on them from time to time. One night, my dad was putting me to bed and was shutting the drawer when he noticed. He looked at me with full concern and said, "Are these teeth?" I nodded. "Are they YOUR teeth?" I nodded again. "Okay, well, we don't keep our teeth. We give them to the tooth fairy, okay? How about I give you five dollars for all of these and you let me send them along to her." I nodded and we never spoke of it again.
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