'Petty becomes wholesome': Son hides 200 toy ducks in his packrat mom's house as payback, accidentally creating a wholesome family tradition in the process

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Aug 27, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

This son was tired of getting 'gifted' junk from his mother, so as a petty revenge prank, he purchased 200 rubber ducks to hide all over her house. 

As someone who lives in a small apartment, I know that the spare space in my house is precious. There's nothing in my home that doesn't absolutely need to be here, so when I'm gifted something useless, futile, or just plain junky, it won't be staying in my home very long. In fact, clutter-creating junk gifts usually find their way to the trash pretty quickly. Unless I can eat it, drink it, or use it every day, (not to sound ungrateful) then please don't bring me random gifts.

Besides, nobody likes getting a gift they don't want. Sure, gift-giving is a special skill that takes a special person to perfect, but the worst gift-givers out there would be relieved to know that they're not half as bad of a gifter as the packrat mom in this next story. Perhaps in her mothering ways, she felt as if she was doing her son a service, but giving him junk items like old USB sticks and dentist appointment cards from 2006 was not his definition of a 'good gift'. It was as if her spring cleaning was turning into a donation drive where countless worthless items found their way straight into her son's clutter box…

Luckily, he found a way to get a little taste of payback against his mom, while also inadvertently creating an adorably wholesome tradition that would strengthen their mother-son bond. Unlike the piles of old newspapers he was accustomed to receiving from Mom, now all he gets are cute photos texted to him of his mom grinning next to a rubber duck.

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    "And by everywhere, I really mean everywhere"
    via weaver1234 - Getty Images via Canva
  • 02
    My mother kept donating me junk so I hid 200 ducks in her house I'm not sure if this is a petty revenge, or even a revenge due to
    via Amstroid
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    the outcome, but it started as a way to have some petty revenge to my mother. My mother is notorious for giving me junk. A few examples from last month:
    via Amstroid
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    • Address stamps with my information on them from when I lived at home, 15 years ago • A dentist appointment card with appointments from 2006
    via Amstroid
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    • About 30 keys... Just 30 random keys, without knowing where they fit on • USB sticks and memory cards ranging from a few MB to max 2G
    via Amstroid
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    I love my mother and I know she doesn't mean this in a bad way. But I have told her to stop it so many times to no avail. When my father was alive it wasn't as bad, but now I really have to be careful when I or my wife go over, or we
    via Amstroid
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    get another box of junk to take home. She is still cleaning up the house since the death, so I understand from where it all comes, but some things are clearly meant for the bin instead of donating it to me.
    via Amstroid
  • 08
    But last month I had really had enough and bought 200 plastic ducks online. When she was on holiday recently, I planned to take my revenge and hid them all over her house. And by everywhere, I really mean everywhere.
    via Amstroid
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    Some are very visible, like in the middle of the hall, in her washing machine or on the photo frames. But most are really hidden in places where she won't look directly. Like in sculptures,
    via Amstroid
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    between the roots of her plants, between 2 coffee cups, in the pockets of her clean trousers, between her clean folded sheets, on top of the showerhead, basicly in every nook and cranny of the house I could find. They are always
    via Amstroid
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    hidden at height because she regularly babysits our toddler and I don't want him to be able to swallow them. You would think that 200 ducks is a lot, but I recently ordered a new
    via Amstroid
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    bag because there are so many places I can still hide some. The revenge part has "failed" a bit because she loves it. Every times she finds one, she's lauching and we get a photo of the found duck.
    via Amstroid
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    Edit: The "giving junk" thing has been going on ever since I've left my parents house, so around 15 years. Long before the death of my dad last year.
    via Amstroid
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    And yes, I have tried everything, from refusing it to accepting and throwing away in her bin. It just doesn't click for her, that if she find something, it doesn't mean that I can use it. She had told me a few times that it is junk that she's giving me
    via Amstroid
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    The current situation is that if I don't accept it, she stores it for later (read next visit). Or she takes it with her when she comes over for a visit.
    via Amstroid
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    Piso-Tincto 7 hr. ago Your mother is getting a chuckle every time finds one? Sounds like you brightened up her day to me. How petty becomes wholesome. hahahaha
    via Piso-Tincto
  • 17
    floridaeng 6 hr. ago She doesn't give them back to you? So you finally found something she will throw out.
    via floridaeng
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    Amstroid OP 5 hr. ago No, she stores them in a bit to give them back once that bin is full
    via Amstroid
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    101010-trees - 7 hr. ago Wholesome and petty. Did not expect that.
    via 101010-trees
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    Amstroid OP 7 hr. ago Neither did she when she came back after her holiday Just imagne, she opens the frontdoor after a relaxing holiday and there, in the middle of the hall is a 20mm heigh blue duck.
    via Amstroid
  • 21
    Super_Reading2048 - 7 hr. ago Buy bigger ducks your toddler can't swallow and hide them in low unexpected places. She or your toddler might find them & it is fun either way.
    via Super_Reading2048
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    Amstroid OP 6 hr. ago Oooh! I read your comment and bought 50 bigger ducks. And another 50 glow-in-the- dark versions for in the veranda and terras. Best 30€ spend in a long time
    via Amstroid

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wholesome family drama adorable family stories mother tradition revenge cute parenting petty lol family plot twist parent Reddit payback mom son parents
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