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30 Things Parents Stumbled Upon In Their Kids’ Rooms They Weren’t Supposed To See
Interview With Expert
Most parents probably know that their children aren’t going to be 100% open and honest with them. There are always going to be some small secrets between them. In some cases, when the truth finally comes out, it can lead to a lot of hilarious and lighthearted moments that you’ll be telling all your friends about for years to come.
In a hilarious viral AskReddit thread, the parents of the internet opened up about the weirdest things they found in their kids’ bedrooms. Clandestine fish tanks in the closet? Sugar under the bed? Those are just the tip of the iceberg. Scroll down for some funny and relatable parenting stories, Pandas!
Bored Panda wanted to learn a bit more about how parents can inspire their kids to be tidier and more honest with them, so we reached out to Samantha Scroggin, a parenting blogger and the founder of Walking Outside in Slippers. You'll find her insights below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My parents were a bit confused when they looked in my closet found an anatomically correct wooden arm with metal bracket joints and elastic to move the individual fingers.
I took "make an anatomical model of the arm" a bit too literally in my 6th grade science class and felt really dumb holding a working wooden arm in class when everyone else had drawings. I was hiding it because I used the power tools without permission. My parents were pretty cool about it after I explained why I had wooden body parts in the closet and let me to go an engineering tech school part time along side high school a few years later.
#2
When my husband was little (talking 5 or 6 years old) his mother couldn't figure out why his room had been getting smellier and smellier over the previous 2 weeks. She finally did some searching and found a "nest" in the back of his closet. He had taken 2 eggs out of the fridge, put them in a little nest he made out of his shirts, and put a plastic dinosaur on top of the eggs to attempt to hatch baby dinosaurs. In his little kid mind, this seemed like a perfectly logical idea.
#3
I'm not a parent, I'm the baby sitter, but one time I watched a 6 year old Jewish girl who was really upset about not celebrating Christmas. Her parents were really orthodox and didnt let her sing Christmas carols or even eat candy canes. As I tucked her in, she showed me a little gingerbread house she made out of saltine crackers, skittles, and peanut butter. Cutest thing I ever saw, and I never told her parents as she would have gotten in trouble, but she was something special.
We asked parenting blogger Samantha for her thoughts on how parents can create a relationship of trust and honesty with their munchkins. She explained that there needs to be a give-and-take here.
"I think encouraging our kids to be honest and open with us starts with being open with them. When they do confide in us, we should think carefully about our response and not shame them," she told Bored Panda in an email.
"In addition, we should believe our kids when they tell us about their lives or what goes on in them. I find myself sometimes surprised with how honest my kids are with me, so I guess I'm doing something right," Samantha said.
#4
After I had surgery (and had been given a little too much anesthetic for my weight) I told my parents about the hedgehog I had been hiding from them for over a month in my closet. I was 18 at the time. The conversation went about like this from what I've been told.
Me: Dad, come here...
Dad: what?
Me: There's a hedgehog in my closet...
Dad: Jordan, no there isn't...
Mom: (My dads name), go check... This sounds like something he would do...
Dad: Fine...
(My dad walked out for a few minutes and came back to the room I was in)
Dad: (My moms name), He has a hedgehog in his closet...
Mom: (dads name), no he doesn't.
Dad: yes, he does...
(Mom walks out, and comes back with a look of shock)
Me: Dying of laughter...
The End.
WindySwede 1 week ago (edited)
Poor [hedgehog], hope they could set it free! edit. I clearly live in sweden with hedgehogs living wild.
#5
Not a parent, but a nanny. I found a stash of dresses and make up under a five year old boy's bed. He had raided a box of old clothes that their mother was donating and took his sister's dresses that fit him, he found the correct sizes for his age and everything. He said he used it to be a "sassy girl".
#6
My mom once found my fish tank full of fish in my closet. I wasn't allowed to have fish.
EDIT: I called them my "illegal fish" for the longest time...
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Did the fish come out of the closet? Were they gay fish? I have just reminded myself of the South Park episode about fish sticks.
Meanwhile, many parents have trouble motivating their children to pitch in with the housework or to keep their rooms clean. We turned to Samantha for help on this very relatable issue.
She opened up to us that in her personal opinion, kids should help with the household chores. "Getting them to actually do it is another story. I am not above bribery in the form of rewards. We make it clear to our kids that they are expected to do chores as part of their family responsibilities, and they get a weekly allowance," Samantha said.
"Reward stars can be earned for extra chores that can be traded in for prizes. That said, my kids are not always pleased about doing chores. But it comes with the family territory.
#7
My $2500+ dollar gaming system.. and desk, which was on a different floor in the house entirely.
Just walked in from work one day and noticed it missing, was about to freak out when I saw that my 10 year old and (almost) 16 year old had moved it, and the entire contents, up to their room.
Thought it about it for a few moments, not even upset when I noticed how much more room it gave me down stairs, and hatched a plan.
When he turned 16 a week later, I said, "Happy Birthday! It's yours now!" and purchased him $100 worth of games on steam to rock the system with.
... now I'm planning a nice gaming laptop for myself ;).
#8
Recently I found a green piece of folded paper on the floor of my 11 year old daughter's room.
I opened it and the only thing written on it was "CHUCK NORRIS".
#9
My mom found a locked briefcase in my brother's room. She was convinced there was d***s in it, so she panicked, broke the locks and opened it. She found p**n and fireworks. She was pretty embarrassed.
The world would probably be a better place if everyone was more honest. But let’s not be naive: lies, deception, exaggeration, and secrecy are core parts of the human experience. In short—they’re not going away anytime soon. The best we can hope for is that we can lead by example and inspire the people around us to be more transparent, trusting, and trustworthy.
From a very practical perspective, it would be useful for parents to know that their children can turn to them for help and advice. The goal is to have a wholesome, supportive relationship where everyone’s open so that you don’t have to stumble upon packs of bacon under the bed or hidden stashes of cat food. Some small secrets can be playful, but others are just messy.
According to BabyCenter, kids who are 6 years old already know the difference between the truth, lies, and stories. By the time they’re 7 or 8 years old, even though they’re still developing, they can be held accountable for their honesty. They should know that they’re expected to tell the truth.
However, Jane Nelsen, author of the Positive Discipline series of books, notes that kids this age might be scared to tell the truth about doing something wrong. They might be afraid of disappointing their parents or they’re scared of punishment.
#10
My friend's mom found his box of dead baby raccoon skulls in his closet. I stopped hanging out with him pretty soon after.
**Edit**: To clarify, he admitted to tying baby Raccoons he found in his dad's garage to a fence then [ending] them with a crossbow.
**Edit 2**: If I get another message in my inbox about him being a future serial [criminal], I'll shoot *you* with a damn crossbow. Come on people, read the damn comments.
**Edit 3 (Aug 2016)**: Not sure if anyone will ever see this, but he just received a life sentence for [unaliving] somebody. F**k.
#11
We have a wooded wet land area behind our house and every spring for a couple of weeks our yard and sidewalk gets invaded by the cutest little baby frogs. They are only about the size of a US dime. My daughter was about 5 and she caught one and smuggled it into her room in her pocket. I found her playing with it in her room. It took a bit of convincing that the baby froggie would be happier outside and away from our cats.
#12
My parents found a crack pipe in my room when I was in like 3rd grade...I found it on the playground and thought it was a treasure.
Aelin Wildfire 1 week ago
Obviously, OP didn't know what it was for... But I bet the parents never took them back to that park again!
Broadly speaking, the cooler and calmer guardians are, the better for everyone. What parents can do is avoid labeling their kids as liars, not ask questions about things they already know the answers to, and avoid emphasizing their bad behavior. Furthermore, they can work together with their child on the things they’re lying about, whether that’s doing homework or chores.
It’s not just mutual trust and transparency that parents have to worry about, though. If you keep finding random bits of food or trash in your kids’ rooms, then it’s a hygiene issue, too. To put it very simply, if your children keep hiding food that goes bad, it’s going to affect the entire home in a very bad way.
Clinical psychologist Anjali Gowda Ferguson, Ph.D., explained to PsychCentral that cleaning can reduce stress and anxiety, improve your mood, and give you a sense of control. Furthermore, if your children get into the habit of cleaning, it gives them a sense of responsibility, builds their self-esteem, and also promotes living skills that are useful throughout their lives.
Ferguson advises parents to encourage their children to clean things on their own to promote their independence.
#13
I'm the kid here, but when I was 12 my mom found a shoebox full of blood-soaked socks under my bed.
I'd gotten my period and was too embarrassed to ask what to do, so I just, you know. Socks. I don't know what she thought it was, but the fact that she was relieved when she learned she was holding a shoebox full of menstrual blood and ruined Peds is probably telling.
#14
This is about someone who rented a room in my house. She was so immature, she was practically my kid.
My boyfriend and I rented a house and it had an extra bedroom, so we posted an ad on Craigslist and a girl, let's call her S, replied. She had just turned 18 and was going to college 2 minutes away from the house. She seemed like a nice girl at first. Quiet, tiny (I mean like 70 pounds tiny), and didn't mind helping out around the house.
A couple weeks after she moved in, we noticed weird food items were missing. Not frozen pizzas or bread or anything- it was more like whole jars of mayo and sliced american cheese. We asked her about it and she denied she took anything.
When the semester was up, she moved out, and we started cleaning out her room and bathroom. When we opened the bathroom closet, this disgusting smell hit us. On the wall behind the top shelf, there were literally THOUSANDS of balls of paper towel with chewed and half-digested food inside.
She would eat a jar of mayo, throw it up into this bucket we found in her bedroom closet, and make vomit snowballs, which she tossed into the closet.
It took hours to scrape it all off. Absolutely disgusting.
TL;DR: vomit snowballs. Eck.
#15
Another kid. My daughter used to sneak her friend in her room through her window.
Of course, if the munchkins genuinely need help or don’t know how to do something, the guardians can lend them a hand. But adults should not be jumping in to complete every little task or chore. A small amount of adversity is healthy in the long run.
Meanwhile, if you’re still at the start of teaching them about the importance of pitching in with the housework, you could make everything a collaborative effort. Then, slowly, you could reduce the amount of help you provide as your kids gain confidence and get used to doing things on their own.
#16
My aunt once found a box of live hand grenades under my cousin's bed. Turns out he and a group of friends broke into the armory of a nearby army base. He was 12.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
This is disturbing on many levels. What else could have been or was stolen from that armoury?
#17
When I was around 9 or so my mom found a convict under my bed. Granted I didn't know he was a convict because he used to work for my dad and would give me playstation 1 games (I think final fantasy 8 among others), so I thought he was one of dad's nice friends and didn't really question when he was knocking on our balcony door asking for me to let him in (keep in mind we're on the third floor). I let him in and he asks if he can hide in my room so I'm like 'whatevs, seems legit' and take him back to it. He looks around for a while at the closet before deciding he would fit his 200-something lb, 6'5 body underneath my twin bed. To the layman, something would obviously be awry but it checked out in my little 9 year old brain, so I continued watching Dragon Ball Z in my room now instead of the living room since school had ended not too long ago and I didn't want to do homework yet. 5 minutes later my mom comes in to see how my day was and is instantly concerned as to why my bed is sticking up off the ground on 1 side with me acting completely oblivious to it. She comes over and lifts up the blanket that is also slightly off the ground, and jumps back completely terrified as a 30-something year old man springs from underneath the bed. He starts talking to her in a hurried fashion and she's yelling at him, all the while I'm getting peeved because I can't hear what was going on in the show. They both storm out of my room and I don't really think anything of it and continue watching the show.
About 5 minutes later, he blasts through my door, opens the window, PUNCHES OUT THE SCREEN, and does some crazy spiderman egress s**t that involved him jumping out the window while still holding on to the side of it so he wraps around the building whilst midair, lands on the group of Air Conditioning units (apartment complex), and runs off into the woods. 2 stories off the ground. Ok, now something's a little weird. 'Obviously he could've just used the front door' is what I'm thinking. Like 10 seconds later, 2 cops and a police dog are in my room followed by my mom, who looks absolutely mortified by what I've done. I guess the severity of it is finally setting in so I just look at her with that 'I f****d up, didn't I?' look on my face.
I got my a*s BEAT that night.
TL;DR: Mom finds fellon under my bed, guy Damien Walters himself out of my window.
#18
A wedding ring in my 9 year old son's pokemon card box. Apparently, a kid at school really wanted one of my son's cards, so he took his mom's ring to trade. Mine was lost a few months ago, so mah boy thought it would make a good Xmas present for me. We were very surprised. It has been returned.
And, of course, there’s nothing like genuine praise to keep your children motivated with their chores. You can even make the process more fun by creating a chore chart with stickers. Or you might choose to reward your children with more privileges. Whatever you decide to do, there has to be positive feedback for all the effort they put in.
So, dear Pandas, which of these stories did you find the funniest and most relatable? If you have kids, what’s the most bizarre thing you’ve found in your munchkins’ bedrooms?
On the flip side, what’s the strangest thing you kept secret from your parents when you were growing up? If you have any lighthearted stories to share, feel free to do so in the comments!
#19
This question was tailor made for me. Since about Christmas my daughter's room has reeked of something dead. Her room is a rubbish heap of clothes and make-up nonsense. We moved a bunch of stuff, smelled around and determned the stench was coming from a particular area of the room. She reminded me that she slept in a spare room a few weeks back because she heard scrabbling sounds coming from a vent. I remove air duct vent covers, stick my nose in and give a sniff...nothing. The next day the stink is coming out of her door into the hallway. She's no longer been sleeping in the room because of the smell. After sniffing all over the place and carefully moving everything in her room we found what the smell was. An open tin of spiced octopus. She had received it as a gag gift the previous Christmas. It sat in her room for almost a year until, feeling curious, she opened the tin to have a look inside. She put the tin aside where it became covered with the flotsam and jetsam of a teenaged girls room. Eventually it was a smell that came straight from Satan's bowels.
#20
My mom found my (I was 17) $13,000 in gambling winnings that I had been hiding in check boxes in my room. She had resigned that the only way I could have made that money was to sell d***s (I've never done d***s.) She harbored this for weeks trying to wrap her head around it, so after confronting me was relieved to hear that I had just been sneaking into the casino to count cards at blackjack for the whole summer. I think of it as an "everything went better than expected" for all of us.
Stephanie Did It 1 week ago
No one checked a 17 year old's ID before paying out winnings in a casino??
#21
My coworker once found a ziplock bag full of hairs, all sorts of colours and length, in one of the new kid's room (we work in a rehab for teens). Kid says its his collection of girls hair for when he does his voodoo rituals.
#22
Not a parent myself, but my parents once found an empty lobster claw under my sister's pillow. my uncle had jokingly told her to take it home with her and being about 5 years old, she took him seriously. the stench was awful.
#23
When I was 10 my mom found a piece of paper with two columns. One column header read "Bush" and the other read "Gore" and underneath each column was a list of every swear word imaginable (at least every one I knew). E.g. Bush would say "you lying sack of s**t" and Gore would respond "go to hell you bastard." There was a little drawing of each of them looking angry at the bottom of the page.
#24
My mom found the BDSM lesbian Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfiction I was writing when I was 16.
I explained it away and 6 years later she still doesn't suspect that I'm bisexual.
I need a nap. 1 week ago
Ugh… that’s like if one of my parents became a mind reader. The nightmares we would both be having…
#25
Not a parent but I once found a naked Barbie, bound and gagged, in a shoe box under my 9 year-old sister's bed. The shoe box had a window cut out with rubberband bars and was lined with blankets. My sister is 17 now and no I've never asked her about it.
#26
A hamster.
We never bought them one.
Turns out, a neighbor's hamster got in the house.
#27
My cousin's parents found a full package of unopened bacon under his bed. He wanted it all for himself.
I can't blame his reasoning, but the execution was a bit sloppy.
#28
Cat food! My daughter (18 mo.) is obsessed with eating the cat food....she started taking handfuls of it and sneaking it into her bedroom....my husband found her stash next to her crib. She's a strange one :).
#29
Shortly after my son learned to write his name I found it written on his wall with poop. He denied it.
I need a nap. 1 week ago
BAHAHAHAHA 🤣 this is exactly something my sister would have done. The denial is the key part! (Especially if it’s clear SHE did it.)
#30
Oregano, I don't know why he's baking up there.
What do you think ?
Ron Mael's devoted wife. 1 week ago
My son used to hide his school packed lunches under his bed, I found them at the end of term. The stench was disgusting...not Sue what he are at lunchtimes. After being caught he would put the lunch into the public bin near our house, caught him once, he denied it. Still does and he's 28.
Stephanie Did It 1 week ago
In my teenage daughter's closet, I found...kisses. Big, red, lipstick kisses she had imprinted all over the inside of her door and the door frame. Not the worst thing one could find at all! 💋💋💋
Mari 1 week ago
I found a kitten in my sons room. My husband was upset but I was very happy with it. We kept the kitten.
Huddo's sister 1 week ago
My grandma found a kitten in my mum's room. Surprised my mum that she was allowed to keep it.
Load More Replies...
LynzCatastrophe 1 week ago
I used to be allowed to keep a small fish tank in my room. A little too young to have this considering i used to take out the fish to pet them. One day I dropped a goldfish and it disappeared. Could not find it. Years go by and that fish never showed up, furniture had been moved, the place vacuumed either by myself or my very OCD mother, I figured I had imagined losing the fish. When I was 20 I moved out, I was doing a complete purge of my room and bam! Under the dresser was the dehydrated remains of my fish. How??? That dresser had moved across the room over the years! The fish had been dropped across the room when the dresser was in it's first location!
BookFanatic 1 week ago
My dad found a list of swear words on my desk when I was eight. "Practicing my penmanship" was not an accepted reason. He told me to rip it up and go outside to play.
Makenzie McNeal 1 week ago
I used to hide my half eaten lunchables under the radiator in my room so I could go and watch Dora. Let's just say hot meat and cheese doesn't smell good.
Michelle C 1 week ago
Me...when I was younger I was saving my toenail clippings in a jar and it was found. When my mom asked I just said I don't know, but honestly it was a months long plan to get back at my cousins.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 week ago
Hm. I'm wondering...what was your evil plan?
Load More Replies... Daniel Atkins 1 week ago
My mother found a nearly dead crawfish in my sister’s room. It was an escapee from my aquarium i had two but they had climbed out using the air hose from my bubbler. They made it down the stairs and around the corner to my sister”s room. Then I wasn’t allowed to have them in my aquarium.
Cydney Golden 4 days ago
Daughter saved her chicken pox scabs. She's totally normal now. Can't wait to see what odd things she finds in her daughter's room.
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 1 week ago
I thought it was unexpected things that had been found. Those wouldn't be unexpected.
Load More Replies...
Ron Mael's devoted wife. 1 week ago
My son used to hide his school packed lunches under his bed, I found them at the end of term. The stench was disgusting...not Sue what he are at lunchtimes. After being caught he would put the lunch into the public bin near our house, caught him once, he denied it. Still does and he's 28.
Stephanie Did It 1 week ago
In my teenage daughter's closet, I found...kisses. Big, red, lipstick kisses she had imprinted all over the inside of her door and the door frame. Not the worst thing one could find at all! 💋💋💋
Mari 1 week ago
I found a kitten in my sons room. My husband was upset but I was very happy with it. We kept the kitten.
Huddo's sister 1 week ago
My grandma found a kitten in my mum's room. Surprised my mum that she was allowed to keep it.
Load More Replies... LynzCatastrophe 1 week ago
I used to be allowed to keep a small fish tank in my room. A little too young to have this considering i used to take out the fish to pet them. One day I dropped a goldfish and it disappeared. Could not find it. Years go by and that fish never showed up, furniture had been moved, the place vacuumed either by myself or my very OCD mother, I figured I had imagined losing the fish. When I was 20 I moved out, I was doing a complete purge of my room and bam! Under the dresser was the dehydrated remains of my fish. How??? That dresser had moved across the room over the years! The fish had been dropped across the room when the dresser was in it's first location!
BookFanatic 1 week ago
My dad found a list of swear words on my desk when I was eight. "Practicing my penmanship" was not an accepted reason. He told me to rip it up and go outside to play.
Makenzie McNeal 1 week ago
I used to hide my half eaten lunchables under the radiator in my room so I could go and watch Dora. Let's just say hot meat and cheese doesn't smell good.
Michelle C 1 week ago
Me...when I was younger I was saving my toenail clippings in a jar and it was found. When my mom asked I just said I don't know, but honestly it was a months long plan to get back at my cousins.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 week ago
Hm. I'm wondering...what was your evil plan?
Load More Replies... Daniel Atkins 1 week ago
My mother found a nearly dead crawfish in my sister’s room. It was an escapee from my aquarium i had two but they had climbed out using the air hose from my bubbler. They made it down the stairs and around the corner to my sister”s room. Then I wasn’t allowed to have them in my aquarium.
Cydney Golden 4 days ago
Daughter saved her chicken pox scabs. She's totally normal now. Can't wait to see what odd things she finds in her daughter's room.
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 1 week ago
I thought it was unexpected things that had been found. Those wouldn't be unexpected.
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