Courtesy of Riyadh Khalaf/Instagram (used with permission)
When Riyadh found an egg, he had no idea how much it would change his life.
When we come across something that's wrong or amiss, we often have a choice. Leave it for someone else to deal with, or do the right thing. Taking action is hard, but it's a risk that can have absolutely beautiful results.
The story of Riyadh and Spike starts like the opening to a children's book: "One day, a man was walking along and spotted a lone egg where an egg should not have been…" And between that beginning and the story's mostly sweet ending is a beautiful journey of curiosity, care, and connection that has captivated people all over the world.
Irish author, broadcaster, and activist Riyadh Khalaf was out walking in Devon, England, when he came upon an egg.
"We just found what we think is a duck egg," Riyadh says in a video showing the milky white egg sitting in a pile of dirt. "Just sitting here on its own. No nest. No other eggs."
What would you do if you found a lone egg on the ground? Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash
Thinking there was no way it was going to survive on its own, Riyadh put the egg in a paper cup cushioned with a napkin and took it home to London, which entailed two car rides, a hotel stay, a train ride, a tube ride, and a bus ride. He said he used to breed chickens and pigeons, so he had some experience with birds. Knowing the egg could survive for a while in a dormant state, he ordered an incubator on Amazon. An incubator keeps eggs at a particular temperature and humidity range in order to allow them to continue growing. They mimic the warmth the egg receives from the mother birding sitting on it in the nest. Without that warmth, the fetus inside the egg will die.
With the egg tucked safely inside the warm incubator, te journey to see if the egg was viable began.
Even though it was "just an egg," Riyadh quickly became attached, and once it showed signs of life he took on the role of "duck dad."
Every day, the egg showed a drastic change in development. The incubator was working, and Riyadh's giddy joy at each new discovery—movement, a discernible eye, a beak outline—was palpable. He devoured information on ducks to learn as much as he could about the baby he was (hopefully) about to hatch and care for.
Finally, 28 days later, the shell of the egg began to crack. The baby was coming!
"I could see this very clear outline of the most gorgeous little round bill," Riyadh said—confirmation that it was, indeed, a duck as he had suspected. But duckling hatching is a process, and one they have to do it on their own. Ducklings instinctively know to turn the egg as it hatches so that the umbilical cord detaches, and the whole process can take up to 48 hours. Riyadh watched and monitored until he finally fell asleep, but at 4:51am, 29 hours after the egg had started to hatch, he awakened to the sound of tweets.
"There was just this little wet alien staring back at me," he said. "It was love at first sight."
Riyadh named his rescue duckling Spike. Once Spike was ready to leave the incubator, he moved into "Duckingham Palace," a setup with all of the things he would need to grow into a healthy, self-sufficient duck—including things that contribute to his mental health. (Apparently ducklings can die from poor mental health, which can happen when they don't have other ducks to interact with—who knew?)
"My son shall not only survive, but he shall thrive!" declared the proud papa.
Riyadh knew it would be impossible for Spike to not imprint on him somewhat, but he didn't want him to see him as his mother. Riyadh set up mirrors so that Spike could see another duckling (even though it was just himself) and used a surrogate stuffed duck to teach him how to do things like eat food with his beak.
He used a duck whistle and hid his face from Spike while feeding him, and he played duck sounds on his computer to accustom Spike to the sounds of his species. He knew that Spike could not stay and live with him forever, so he'd need to learn how to become a normal, every day duck.
"It's just such a fulfilling process to watch a small being learn," said Riyadh.
As Spike grew, Riyadh took him to the park to get him accustomed to the outdoors and gave him opportunities to swim in a small bath. He learned to forage and do all the things a duck needs to do. Throughout, Riyadh made sure that Spike was getting the proper balanced nutrition he needed as well.
In the wild, most ducks eat plants, small insects, seeds, grains, and fruits. Some species of ducks will even eat small fish. Contrary to popular belief, bread is not good for ducks. It's not inherently harmful, but it's basically candy to them — it has little to none of the nutrients their bodies need. So if they fill up on bread, they may eat less of the foods they really need. Riyadh had a lot to learn!
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After 89 days, the day finally came for Spike to leave Riyadh's care and be integrated into a community of his kind "to learn how to properly be a duck."
A rehabilitation center welcomed him in and he joined a flock in an open-air facility where he would be able to choose whether to stay or to leave once he became accustomed to flying. Within a few weeks of being at the rehabilitation center, his signature mallard colors developed, marking his transition from adolescence. Spike has been thriving with his flock, and Riyadh was even able to share video of his first flight.
This is the where "And they all lived happily ever after" would be a fitting end to the story, but unfortunately, Spike and his fowl friends are living in trying times. The rehabilitation center was notified by the U.K. government in December of 2024 that the duck flock needed to be kept indoors for the time being to protect them from a bird flu outbreak and keep it from spreading.
Building an entire building for a flock of ducks is not a simple or cheap task, so Riyadh called on his community of "daunties" and "duncles" who had been following Spike's story to help with a fundraiser to build a "Duckingham Palace" for the whole flock. Riyadh's followers quickly raised over £11,000, which made a huge difference for the center's owners to be able to protect Spike and his friends.
All in all, Riyadh and Spike's story is a testament to what can happen when people genuinely care. If Riyadh had left that egg where it was, it may not have made it. If Spike hadn't survived and been moved to the rehab center, the ducks there would be in greater danger of the bird flu due to the costs of building an indoor shelter for them. Despite the ongoing bird flu threat, the story really does have a happy ending.
In an update from June 2025, Riyadh shares that Spike is currently living with Leanne Clarke, who built a rescue shelter called "The Quack Shack" in her home. Riyadh's story and fundraising made much of the construction possible. Spike is starting to remember Riyadh less and less, which is bittersweet, but means that Spike is thriving in his new safe, domesticated life.
Thank to Riyadh for sharing Spike's journey with us. (You can follow Riyadh on Instagram here.)
This article originally appeared in January. It has been updated.
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People who live nowhere near Mississippi have their own unique ways of counting seconds.
Imagine you're nine years old. You're playing hide and go seek with your friends, and it's your turn to seek. You lean against a tree and cover your eyes and begin to count. How do you do it? If you were born in the USA, there is only one way:
"One Mississippi...two Mississippi...three Mississippi..."
Counting by "Mississippis" is the gold standard for people growing up in America. Though there are other ways to count out estimated seconds, Mississippi has the perfect length, correct number of syllables, and just the right sing-song rhythm that makes it such a catchy way for kids to learn to count. For many of us, the habit follows us into adulthood. We may not count out loud during backyard games as often anymore, but secretly many of us still do it in our heads.
Counting is fun! Giphy
Mississippi, though, is a very American word because it's a very American place. So recently a curious social media user posed the question: How do non-Americans count seconds instead of using One Mississippi, Two Mississippi, etc.?
The Reddit thread got over a thousand comments from people wanting to chime in. In fact, it's such a good question that the topic has come up on social media many times over the years, in several Reddit threads, YouTube videos, and more.
Seems we just can't get enough of this fascinating topic! Here are the best responses from people around the globe.
As Ross from 'Friends' would say, "Mississippilessly?!" Giphy
For starters, let's briefly recognize that not everyone in the USA counts "One Mississippi." There is another popular, though far inferior, method of counting.
"As an American, I rarely use Mississippi to count seconds. I normally use 'one thousand,'" a user wrote on Reddit.
Yes, One One Thousand, Two One Thousand, Three One Thousand, etc. Effective, but boring!
In the UK, there are a few popular options. Some people there even say Mississippi, even though it's thousands of miles away and they probably know almost nothing about the place! That's how catchy it is.
In a YouTube video on the subject posted by Numberphile, an American woman living in England, she shares that people she knows use "1 Piccadilly, 2 Piccadilly..." or "1 Elephant, 2 Elephant..."
One user on Reddit said, "'One silly second, two silly seconds' - in my part of the UK (in the 80s)"
Another user mentioned they were familiar with "One steamboat, two steamboats..." but mostly during football matches.
People who live in France or speak French Canadian seem to have a lot of different options:
"In french we say '''un bateau, deux bateaux'' (one boat, to boats)' one user wrote.
"un sucre, deux sucres, trois sucres... (one sugar, two...)" said another.
Another person added, "in French I grew up with « un crocodile, deux crocodiles » or « un hippopotame, deux hippopotames »"
"French canadian, we count hippopotamuses ... Un hippopotame, deux hippopotames..." someone else agreed.
One hippopotamus, two hippopotamus... Giphy
Animal names for counting seconds seem to be a popular choice all over the world, in fact, with elephants, crocodiles, and the mighty hippopotamus ruling the day.
"In South Africa we used to say 'one crocodile', 'two crocodiles', etc."
"Australia: one cat-and-dog, two cat-and-dog, three cat-and-dog"
"Egy elefánt, két elefánt, három elefánt, ... Hungarian: one elephant, two elephant, the elephant"
Some countries have a creative and interesting technique. Instead of using a filler word, they start counting at later numbers that have more syllables.
"In Dutch, we start counting at 21, which has four syllables. The pace is a bit slower than the Mississippis. Eenentwintig tweeëntwintig, drieëntwintig.." a user wrote.
A German speaking user echoed the sentiment: "The actual way I‘ve been taught to count seconds in German is by saying twenty one, twenty two, etc.. in German. So: Einundzwanzig, zweiundzwanzig, dreiundzwanzig, vierundzwanzig,…"
Other countries have their own version of "One One Thousand..."
"The only ones I've heard people use here in Sweden is saying ettusenett, ettusentvå, ettusentre etc. which means 'onethousandone, onethousandtwo...'" a user wrote.
"Czech: jednadvacet, dvaadvacet... (one-and-twenty, two-and-twenty...)" another added.
And others were just completely unique:
"In Denmark we use 'en kasse øl, to kasser øl ....'. Basically counting cases of beer"
"In India we say 'Tick tick one', 'tick tick two' sort of like ticking of the clock."
Tick tick one, tick tick two, tick tick three... Giphy
Finally, because the Internet, social media users had some excellent jokes:
"In Canada, we just apologize after every number. 'One, I'm sorry; two, I'm sorry...'"
"One Transylvania, ah, ha, ha, Two Transylvania, ah, ha, ha..... I obviously live on Sesame Street."
"One Maple Syrup, Two Maple Syrup…."
"In Wales, they say ONE llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, TWO llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, THREE llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoc."
(You may recognize that word as the longest village name in Britain and the subject of an incredible viral TV weather forecast moment.)
How did Mississippi become the standard method of counting seconds in the United States? It's hard to say for sure, but one of the earliest references comes from a book titled How to Use Psychology in Business from 1936.
The passage in question discusses the most efficient method of climbing stairs to conserve energy (for some reason), and recommends counting Mississippis on each stair to achieve the optimal pacing of about one step per second.
From there, the fun, catchy, sing-songiness of the method made it a go-to choice for kids counting in schoolyard games, and the rest was history.
While Mississippi is definitely the most fun and effective method in American English for estimating seconds, some of the international options are fascinating and super creative. All in all, Sesame Street's The Count would be incredibly proud of us.
via Canva/Photos
A mom is embarrassed by her child.
One of the great joys and stresses of parenting is that you never know what will come out of your child’s mouth. When you have kids who are young and inquisitive, they can say really inappropriate things to people without knowing that they were being rude or possibly offensive. TikTok influencer Aurora McCausland (@auroramccausland), known for her DIY cleaning tips, recently told a funny story on the platform about how her son believes she makes a living. The problem was that she heard about it from her child's teacher.
@auroramccausland so this wasn’t on my bingo card 🥲 #momlife #momtok #sahm #sahmlife #funnyvideo #fypシ
Mom is embarrassed by her child
“The other day, I went and picked my five year old up from school and when I get to his classroom his teacher pulls me inside and says, ‘Hey, today he wanted to tell us about what Mommy does for work and said that Mommy makes videos in her bedroom but only when I'm [he’s] not at home,” McCausland recalled.
Given her body language while telling the story, McCausland was clearly mortified after hearing what her child said to his teacher. It makes it look like she may be posting videos to adult sites while her child is at work, which most people wouldn’t want their son’s teacher to know about.
The good news is that another teacher was there to clarify the young boy's comments by adding, “I think she makes TikTok videos.” The uncomfortable situation was a great invitation to chat with her son about what she does for a living. “So I have to have a conversation with my son about how he tells people what I do for work,” she finished her video.
A teacher folding her hands.via Canva/Photos
The funny video went viral, earning over 1.7 million views on TikTok, and inspired many people to share the times when their children had funny ways of explaining their careers.
"My son told everyone that we were homeless (because we don’t own our home, we rent)," KBR wrote.
"I work in ortho.. my daughter told her teacher I steal people's knees bc she heard me talking to my husband about a knee replacement," Aingeal wrote.
"My son told a teacher we were living in our car over the summer. Camping. We went camping," Kera wrote.
"In kinder, my son thought Red Bull was alcohol and told his teacher I liked to have beer on the way to school," Ashley wrote.
My niece told her teacher her mom and dad work at the wh*re house. They work at the courthouse," Ellis wrote.
"My husband works as a table games dealer at a casino. Kindergartener, 'Daddy's a Dealer!' We now start every school year clearly stating he works at the casino," CMAC
"My son said we lived in a crack house…There’s a tiny chip in the wall from the doorknob," KNWerner wrote.
"My dad is a hospice chaplain and officiates a lot of funerals. My son and nephew were asked by their preschool teacher if their papa was retired or had a job. They told her his job was to kill people," Tiffyd wrote.
"My son said "my dad left me and I'm all alone" to a random person at the zoo. My husband was just at work," Shelby.
"I am now in my 70s. In my gradeschool, during the McCarthy era, I told my teacher my dad was a communist. He was an economist," Crackerbelly wrote.
"In Kindergarten, my daughter told her teacher that mommy drinks and drives all the time. Coffee. From Starbucks," Jessica wrote.
"Well I once told my kindergarden teacher a man climbs over our fence to visit my mom when her husband is not home... It was a handy man who came to fix gates when they were stuck," Annie wrote.
Ultimately, McCausland’s story is a fun reminder of how children see things through their own unique lens and, with total innocence, can say some of the funniest things. It’s also a great warning to parents everywhere: if you aren’t clear with your kids about what you do for a living, you may be setting yourself up for a very embarrassing misunderstanding.
This article originally appeared in March
Courtesy of @nicholaknox/Instagram
A roll of painter's tape can keep kids occupied for hours.
Any parent who has traveled with a baby or toddler knows the joy of keeping them contained in a seat for hours when most of them would prefer to do anything but be contained to said seat. Wee ones are wired to move and explore, and an airplane cabin is not exactly the best place for them to exercise those instincts.
So parents flying with babes bring all manner of toys, books, drawing pads, and other things to (hopefully) occupy them, often with varying levels of success. But one mom has shared a simply brilliant hack for traveling with little ones that might just keep them busy for longer than 30 seconds: painter's tape.
Painter's tape is made to be only a little sticky.Photo credit: Canva
Painter's tape is like masking tape, but less sticky. It's made to temporarily adhere and be easily removed without leaving chunks of tape or residue behind. What's that got to do with babies, you ask? Have you ever given a baby a piece of tape? Or stuck a sticker to them? Almost universally, they're fascinated.
Mom and photographer Nichola Knox shared various ways she used it with her kiddo on a flight, including counting tape squares, "rescuing" a toy, making letters of the alphabet, building a "troll swing" (genius), making a truck bridge, attaching a napkin bib, and more.
The tape even comes in handy after the flight. Knox showed how they created "roads" in the hotel room for toy cars and trucks. The mom also wrote that she uses the tape to "Label the kid’s cups, a 'Band-Aid' for when your toddler 'really needs one,' taping over locks and drawers you don’t want them getting into. The list goes on. It’s forever the 'weird' thing I bring on trips."
For little kids, tape is magic. It can stick them, to you, to a window, to a seat back—anything. It can stick things to things. It can be written on. It can be wadded up. It's endless fun.
There are countless ways to use painter's tape when you're traveling with small children.Photo credit: Canva
And, because it comes on a handy-sized roll, you don't even have to sacrifice any luggage space for it (not that it takes up that much space anyway). Just wear it onto the plane like a bracelet or hook it onto a loop of a backpack.
Other moms are loving the tip. As one wrote on a video, "To all the moms who insisted I bring masking tape on my 6 hour flight, you're literally geniuses. This was the only thing that entertained my 1-year-old for more than 5 minutes besides the pamphlets on the back of the seats."
There's a saying, "Why give a kid a toy when they'd prefer to play with the box it came in anyway." It's so true. Kids are often more interested in real-life items than toys, and tape offers the kind of imaginative, open-ended play that parents so often want their kids to engage in. It's definitely better than putting them in front of a screen.
The idea is a hit, according to parents in the comments:
"Ohhh flying in less than a month to California with 5 kids 😯😯 will be bringing 2 rolls of tape!"
"Totally love the idea.. will be using it for my coming road trip."
"Love this idea! It’s so hard to travel with a 1-2 year old since they are so young and don’t understand they need to be quiet, etc. So distraction is key when they aren’t sleeping. Thanks for this!"
"I wanna bring tape with me everywhere now."
Seriously, it's not a bad idea to just keep a roll of tape in your diaper bag. Anything that makes traveling with small children easier is worth keeping on hand.