Clever mom dupes her entitled ex, giving him a decoy when he demands she return a 5-year-old baby toy: ‘[My son] will get to use the same jumperoo his big sister loved’

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  • Ex demanded the return of a $0 jumperoo on "principle". I was happy to oblige.

    My oldest turned 18 a few months ago, so I finally feel okay telling this story. When she was a baby, she had a Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. If
  • you know, you know the songs, the jungle animals, and, my personal favorite: its jaunty little rendition of "Here We Go, Loop De Loop." I can still hum
  • every single one from memory. It may be the last thing that fires through my neurons as I shuffle off this mortal
  • coil. And my daughter LOVED that thing. She'd bounce and play in it until she literally fell asleep mid-jump.
  • She eventually outgrew it and it went into storage. My ex and I separated not long after (less than amicably) and I ended up with primary custody. I
  • wasn't interested in fighting over material stuff, so whatever furniture my ex wanted to take, fine. Take it. I didn't care.
  • Fast forward about five years. Now married, expecting our son, and I'm thrilled that he'll get to use the same jumperoo his big sister loved. I make the mistake of posting this sweet little sentiment on Facebook.
  • Now, I'm not friends with my ex on social media. But apparently someone shared my post to someone who shared it to someone who shared it to my ex, a relay chain of people who obviously have far too much time on their hands.
  • You will never guess how fast I got an email demanding the return of said jumperoo.
  • I said no. The reply was instant: hurt, accusatory, angry. "My family bought that!" and "I need the money!"
  • Oh, money? Okay. How much? I'll pay you for it. Suddenly it wasn't about the money. It was about the principle of the thing.
  • Ah. Of course. The principle. Now, I should mention: one of the reasons I ended up with primary custody was that my ex had a habit of putting
  • things on the record (in writing, no less) like promising to read any r de texts or comments I made aloud to our daughter. So I knew better than to escalate.
  • But I was genuinely hurt. I'd been so happy that my kids would share this one small thing, and now it was being turned into a battle. and I sadly agreed to return it
  • I'm not sure what possessed me, as I'm never this inspired, but before I dropped it off, I got on our local Craigslist baby sales board. And there, listed two days prior: the exact same Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo.
  • For free. Because it was "broken but repairable."
  • I picked it up that afternoon. Then I returned "my ex's jumperoo" with a great big smile.
  • The smug look on my ex's face at the handoff has kept me warm on many a cold night.
  • Both of my sons got to bounce, play, and fall asleep mid-jump in that jumperoo, just like their big sister did. And when
  • MUSS
  • the youngest finally outgrew it, we donated it to another young family, so they could build their own memories with it.
  • JackJeckyl⚫ "Any gifts purchased by my family are now mine." eek
  • Alexis_J_M⚫ I suspect that he never even took it out of the box to see that it was broken, and that his family still has a broken Jumperoo in an attic somewhere.
  • Embarrassed-... smugface Well done you
  • jgirlme I love that you went and found one to give her instead of the one your daughter had. My own daughter had the same one when she was a baby. She's 17 now.

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