Family members usually mean well when they pass down items they no longer want.

But what would you do if a parent kept dropping off hand-me-down items at your home, even after you asked them to stop? Would you just deal with the clutter? Or would you return everything to make it clear you don’t want it?

In the following story, one man finds himself in this predicament and considers returning the favor. Here’s the full scoop.

WIBTA if I dropped my moms junk off at her door?

My family has always had a bit of a problem with throwing things away. No hoarder-house levels here (except that one time), but for example, the basement was always stacked with totes full of stuff we hadn’t touched in years, and we were always taught to finish our entire plates.

My sister and I are both adults now and live in our own places. My mom went through a minimalist phase and threw everything out (including our childhood projects/art, even my birth certificate was collateral damage).

So every now and then (years later), she still offloads her stuff on us. Sometimes it’s cool, but mostly it’s not.

When he got home from a trip, she had left a pile of stuff at his house.

The problem for us is that we also struggle with letting things go. I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels bad and wrong. We have been telling her to stop doing this, but she won’t. It’s almost insidious when I think about it.

She was pet sitting while I was on a business trip recently, and when I got home, there was a pile of stuff waiting for me. A pile of perfectly good stuff. A juicer, shoes, some home cameras, ear buds, decorations, a large mirror, etc. (I only want the mirror tbh).

So I’m like “Cool. Now I have an industrial-strength juicer and nowhere to put it, and I definitely won’t be “using it” because.. I can’t just throw it away..

AITA?

Yikes! Sounds like they all need to get over this.

Let’s check out what the people over at Reddit think about holding onto things.

This person suggests giving to the needy.

Yet another person who thinks he should donate.

For this reader, it’s about setting boundaries.

Here’s someone who’s been in the situation.

He needs to talk to his mom, and as for the stuff he doesn’t want, it should all be donated.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.