Kids say the darndest things. They also say—and sometimes do—the creepiest things. These Redditor parents all thought they’d been blessed with a bundle of joy, but there were moments where their little angels seemed like they were channeling ghosts. Take a peek at these supernatural tales from the crib—if you dare.
1. Blue Lady’s Hands
woman with blue hair looking at her left side
Photo by Dynamic Wang on Unsplash
When my daughter was about three or four, she started talking about "the blue lady". My wife and I asked her who she was. Her reply creeped me the heck out. We were told: "I don't know, but she wants her hands back".
This gave us chills like you would not believe. This went on for a few weeks. The story never changed and it was always the blue lady needs her hands.
We were seconds away from getting a priest or a witch in to bless the house. One morning, I'm watching television, and there is a woman in a blue US Post Office uniform saying "thanks to this hand cream, I got my hands back!" My daughter comes running into the room screaming: "That's the blue lady! I love her!"
2. No, We Most Definitely Do Not
boy in blue dress shirt and brown pants standing on green grass field during daytime
Photo by Marina Abrosimova on Unsplash
When I was pregnant with my second child, we did the usual hemming and hawing about when to tell my son that he was going to get a new baby brother or sister. Finally, we sat him down to give him the news, not sure about how he would react.
The little guy stopped and grabbed my stomach intently. He thought for a moment and then said “and we don’t stab the baby with knives?” Correct, child, we do not.
3. Past Life
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When my nephew was about three years old, I was showing him a Sonic the Hedgehog game. He suddenly said to me: "I've played that before, with my old Grandad". This was weird for two reasons. I knew he hadn’t played the game before, and because he had no “old Grandad”.
His mom took me aside and explained that he regularly talks about his "old life", and she'd pieced this much together from him. My nephew believes that he died when he was 13 years old and that his previous family was very sad.
This family had lots of brothers and sisters, and they all lived in a flat with his old mommy and daddy who were very nice, but didn't have many teeth. He believes that he picked my brother and sister-in-law to be his new mommy and daddy.
He was very consistent and very persistent that his old mommy and daddy were good people. It was pretty weird. I’m not sure if he still talks about them now he's started school.
4. Only Near Cemeteries
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When my daughter was young, we’d be riding in the car and she’d randomly say: “My sisters are here!” Then she’d animatedly whisper to the empty seat beside her.
She was very lighthearted about the whole thing. She spoke of "Ira" and other sisters whose names she didn’t know. She was always happy to see them. Being an only child, imaginary friends weren’t a concern to me. There was something else that was more worrisome. She only mentioned them when we were near cemeteries.
It was one of those creepy things you’d try to explain away. She’d say it, and I’d look around, relieved to see no headstones in sight, only to find a small family plot buried in the brush along the roadside a few moments later.
Once it happened on vacation. She said it at the base of a hill. As we crested the hill, there was a cemetery on the other side. I have no clue why, and she never mentioned the cemeteries or ever acknowledged them.
It happened frequently, and I would just shrug it off. Eventually, when she got older, it stopped. She’s a teen now and says when she thinks of it, it’s like a dark room full of different girls with the light only shining on the girl she knew as Ira in the forefront.
I googled the girl name Ira. It means “watchful” in Hebrew.
5. Be Mine?
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Photo by Senjuti Kundu on Unsplash
When my daughter was around five years old, she discovered the concept of wills and inheritance. I think she probably got it from the Aristocats movie, if I recall. Anyway, after seeing the film she went through a phase of asking if various items of mine—usually sparkly stuff like jewelry—would be hers one day after I had gone. Where did she think I was going?
6. Billy Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
woman in white t-shirt holding brown bear plush toy
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I had a friend who lived in a very old house—I think built in the 1750s—who had an imaginary friend named Billy for a few weeks when she was little. She would play dolls and pretend in her room with him, and her parents didn’t think anything of it.
One day, they noticed she was being pretty quiet, so they went to her room and checked in on her. The sight scared them deeply. She was just sitting on the ground staring at a blank part of the wall. There were no pictures or anything to look at.
They asked her what she was doing, and she said: “playing with Billy”. Okay, yes they thought this was a bit odd, but then just decided that kids were weird, and it was probably fine. After that day, though, she never played with Billy again...
A few years later, her parents had to cut the drywall in her room for some reason. They found something very eerie. The workers found the name “Billy” scratched into the beam inside the wall.
Of course her parents were surprised and looked into it further. Apparently there was a little boy named Billy who died on the property sometime in the late 1800s. My friend has no memory of playing with Billy. Her mom told us this story when we were older.
7. Here “Him” Comes
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My cousin has a thing where his eyes don't adjust in the light or dark, so he was able to see clearly in the dark when all we saw was pitch black. We're out camping as we do in the summertime and sitting around a fire.
The fire was making it worse so we couldn't see very far at all. We were basically surrounded by darkness. Out of nowhere my cousin says—in quite a creepy voice—"Here him comes".
We all started freaking out, asking who? He just kept saying "Here him comes". Out of nowhere a fox emerged from the dark and just walked up to a crowd of people and a fire. Weird thing for a fox to do.
8. Grandma Did It
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When my daughter was learning her ABCs, one morning at breakfast she sang all the way through for the first time. We congratulated her and asked if she'd been practicing at day care.
She told us no, but that “mommy's mommy taught me when I was in bed". Mommy's mommy would be her grandmother...who we’d buried three years earlier.
9. He Understood Perfectly
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I grew up in a very large family, and once all my siblings and I went to a park that had a little pond the kids could swim in. I was sitting on the shore with some of my siblings, and we all noticed that our youngest brother was flailing around with his head under the water.
The oldest of us was just standing there pointing and laughing at him. We all, of course, jumped up and grabbed the struggling kid up. He coughed up a bit of water and was shaken up but was otherwise fine.
We asked the oldest if he understood what could have happened to his sibling if he stayed underwater too long. His response still sends chills up my spine. “Yeah, he would have drowned”. None of us knew how to respond to that.
10. I Saw You In The Window
window curtain open wide
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My daughter, who was four at the time, was playing in the backyard one day and I quickly went inside to do something in the kitchen on our first floor. I did not go upstairs to the bedrooms at all.
After a minute or so I came back out. She said "mommy why were you in my room? I saw you look out the window at me!" This freaked me out considerably because we were definitely the only people home at the time.
I told her that I didn't go upstairs. She got upset and insisted she saw me look out her window from the upper floor. With great hesitation, I went upstairs to look around. I was beyond scared, but nobody was in my house—ghost or otherwise.
11. Let It Go
person wearing skeleton costume
Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič on Unsplash
When my kid was about three years old, he woke me up in the middle of the night. My son was standing in the dark with a black blanket draped over his head looking a little like a tiny Sith Lord. To make matters worse, he was whispering the words to the song from Frozen.
“Let it go” he whispered, “let it go". I can't tell you how creepy that was and how long it took me to fall back asleep.
12. She Feeds Them Brains
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My youngest daughter was about four, and we were sitting on the couch watching PBSkids. She reached over and paused the TV. Then she looked at me and affectionately said, "Mommy, when you turn into a zombie, I will have to lock you in a room and keep you there. I promise to feed you brains every day but you can't have my brains".
I was shocked but also curious. I asked her how she plans to get brains to feed zombie mommy and she says, "Well, I will have to kill a lot of people, but I'm sure I will get used to it". There was much conversation after that.
What stayed with me was that it was not “if” I became a zombie but “when”. She was very sure I would. When I asked about where her dad and sister would be, she said they would be gone: likely the first people she fed to me. But I wouldn't know it, because all I cared about were brains.
I wondered for a long while how my four-year-old landed on thoughts of zombies. My oldest finally filled me in on how it had likely happened. The last time my dad had babysat, he got tired and fell asleep on them. Apparently, my youngest started scrolling through channels until she found some zombie movie. Come on, Dad!
13. We Gave Him Goosebumps
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My son went through a phase when he was about six years old where he would write, “Help me! Let me out!” on everything. It was on all his drawings, and he’d write it outside on the side of the house for the neighbors to see.
Then he started writing “Help me!” backwards, like some redrum thing like in the movie The Shining. It turns out he was really into that horror series Goosebumps, which was a series of books and TV shows for children.
In one of the episodes, there was a girl who was trapped in a mirror writing: “help me”. To the people looking into the mirror “help me” was backwards. So, this mystery was solved. My kid is just a bit theatrical.
14. His Name Was Cody
brown and black wolf in close up photography
Photo by Chris Ensminger on Unsplash
My nephew kept taking food from his house and said he was bringing it to a friend named Cody. We all thought Cody was a kid from school, because he had a classmate named Cody that he would go hang out with. Nope, it was much worse. I followed him to Cody’s house, which ended up being a cave just out of town.
And Cody was no friend, he was a wolf. Lucky for us—but not for the poor animal—Cody was deceased. The body lay there surrounded by all sorts of wrappers from snacks. My nephew told me it was sleeping.
I don’t actually know if he thought it was alive or not to be honest. He didn’t talk to me for a few weeks because I told his mother. He claims he doesn’t remember it if I ask him about it now. This was like seven or eight years ago.
15. From Up There
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Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash
I was pregnant, expecting my second child and my first-born was then only about two years old. She had some speech delays and, because of this, her sentences usually only contained a maximum of about two or three words.
Anyhow, one day I was making dinner and my daughter was in the kitchen with me. It was a pretty typical day. Then my daughter suddenly looks at me, points up with her finger, and states calmly and matter of factly and in a perfect sentence: "I used to watch you from up there".
I had no words for her, I simply turned around and stared at her. She smiled and ran off to play. Now I wish I would've asked her more about what she meant by that.
16. I’m Right Where I’m Supposed To Be
woman holding spirit of adoption blocks
Photo by Annika Marek-Barta on Unsplash
I knew this lady who had lost a child shortly after childbirth. A few years later, she decided to adopt a baby from a young teen mother. One day, her adopted daughter looked at her very seriously and said that she was always supposed to be her mother, and that she tried to come to her once before but now she’s back with her where she was supposed to be.
The girl was about five when she said this and had no idea about the baby her adoptive mother had lost.
17. Angry, Red Eyes
red and black LED light
Photo by Dasha Yukhymyuk on Unsplash
My son was almost three years old when he called me to his room about five minutes after he was put to bed. I asked him what's wrong, and he replied: "I'm scared". So, I asked him what he was afraid of. Oh my God, his reply.
He said: "I'm scared of the old lady with the angry, red eyes!" It kind of scared me but I figured he’d seen something on TV or his iPad. I wanted to comfort him, so I bent over his baby bed in the corner and asked him where he'd seen this old lady with the angry, red eyes.
He said: "She's standing right behind you”. I froze and turned about slowly. Luckily there was nothing or nobody there. I kissed him goodnight and left him, but left the door halfway open.
18. I Got Picked Up
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When my kid was around two, she told me one morning: "Mommy, the ghost picked me up last night". I was like, “What?” I was surprised because I'd never talked to her about ghosts or used the word ghost or anything along those lines.
I figured it was something she could've easily picked up at daycare or from a kids show or something. A few years later, when she was around five I guess, she was like: "Mommy, do you remember how I used to cry at night?"
It was true, she had been a terrible sleeper and would wake up over four times a night and cry until we came to get her. She said "It's because the ghost used to come into my room and pick me up at night".
For her to remember that years later made me think there was some truth to what she said.
19. His Name Was Joshua
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Photo by Jeremy McKnight on Unsplash
One day when I was shopping with my family, my little sister said that her imaginary friend told her that a burglar was in our house. We all laughed and humored her. We got home and started unloading the trunk. Then the nightmare began. To our shock and horror, a man ran out the back door of the house.
When we got over the surprise, my mom asked my sister when her imaginary friend had told her. My sister said that he'd come all the way to the grocery store and told her. She also said that the peanut brittle she got was for him.
My sister didn't eat peanut brittle before or since. She also said that her imaginary friend’s name was Joshua. This is not the only thing Joshua told my sister. We didn’t encourage her belief in Joshua, but we also didn't argue with her.
We had a dog that, incidentally, my sister hated. One day the dog broke out of a window and ran off. My sister woke up the next morning and told us she knew exactly where the dog was.
She got into the car with my dad and told him where to drive. Sure enough they found the dog lying in the street. It had been hit by a car. My sister said that Joshua had told her where the dog was and that his eye was hurt.
When they found it, the poor dog was stunned and had a broken paw. The impact had also hurt is eye. Because of my sister and Joshua, the dog lived another five years. Once in a while my sister will still speak about Joshua as if he was a person we all knew from our childhood.
20. Out There In The Dark
rectangular 6-pane window on brown wooden wall at nighttime
Photo by Edward Polo on Unsplash
My two-year-old is sitting down at the table for dinner. It's dark outside. He looks outside and says "What is that?" He doesn't know how to say "who" yet. When meeting new people he says "What is that?"
My wife and I look outside and don't see anything. It's dark. We look back at him. He's staring into the darkness. We figure, he's a kid, his eyes are new, maybe he sees better than us. We freak out. Is there someone outside in a dark outfit and we can't make it out, and he can?
I grab a flashlight and go outside, looking for the trespasser. There is nothing. I come back in, he makes the same comment. I sit next to him and look in the direction he is. Like over 200 feet away, on another house, there is a small LED American flag that is turned on. It's barely a foot wide.
I ask him if what he's looking at red and blue?" He says it is. "That's a flag, buddy".
21. It’s On Your Side
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One night, my partner’s grandmother was babysitting her four-year-old grandson. After she had put the kid to bed, she fell asleep on the couch in the living room.
Now, this was one of those wrap-around couches with a high back, so someone who is the height of a four-year-old can’t really be seen coming down the hallway by someone laying on the couch.
Well, around one in the morning, grandma was woken up by a small child’s voice slowly singing “Nationwide is on your side, Nationwide is on your side” from somewhere in the dark behind her. Well it was the little kid.
As it turned out, the kid was really into commercial jingles. This scared grandmother silly. Thanks, Brad Paisley!
22. They Were Safer At McDonald’s
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commons.wikimedia.org
When I was about seven months pregnant with my third kid, my husband and I put our two kids in the van—along with everything we could fit—and drove from the East Coast to the West Coast to start a new job.
The kids were one and three years old. During the trip, we stopped fairly often for pee breaks for me and to let the kids run around. On the third day, they were especially worked up, so we stopped at a park somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona or that area.
We sat down and let them play on the playground, as we had a little picnic. The three-year-old was having a blast, but something was wrong. I noticed he kept talking to himself, laughing at his own jokes and being generally weird.
When he came over to eat, I asked him what was up, and he said he was playing with Tony. Of course, I asked who Tony was, and he said it was his new friend. Then he started laughing because Tony was next to him telling him something silly.
It wasn't the first imaginary friend he had had, but for some reason this one was creeping me out. Even though I was a little nervous, I just told him to eat up, and he could play a bit more before we left.
When it was time to go, he was more upset than usual, telling me that Tony didn't want him to go. Tony wanted him to stay with him. It gets weirder. Tony said he could stay forever. I was, honest to God, just shivering at this point because I was dealing with pregnancy hormones and for whatever reason this was just freaking me out.
So, I picked my son up, and carried him screaming to the car. My husband had taken our 18-month-old, and we got them both in their seats. I realized I had left my purse behind, so I went to get it. Hand on my heart the next part is true, though I understand if you think I am lying or exaggerating.
As I turned around to head back to the car, I saw a plaque next to the entrance to the park, right under the sign. I had this sudden and weird feeling I should read this plaque. It turned out to be a memorial dedication to a seven-year-old boy who had been hit by a car while biking home from the park in the 1980s.
The child didn’t survive the crash, and his name was Anthony. We got in the car and left as fast as possible. After that, we only stopped at McDonald's play places for the rest of our trip.
23. The Gentlemen Are Coming
greyscale photography of skeleton
Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash
When my cousin was a kid, every Halloween he would freak out in the same way. He’d randomly scream out: “Gentlemen are coming to get me”. “The gentlemen are scary!!!” “They’re all bones!!! They don’t have skin!” This went on for about three years, every Halloween.
My aunt and uncle rightfully were confused and freaked out. Then, one day they’re in a store and my cousin starts screaming about the gentlemen. It all became clear. It turns out, he was afraid of skeleton decorations.
For some reason, he thought the skeletons were called gentlemen. Apparently, at some point in his life, he’d seen one of the old black and white cartoons of dancing skeletons with top hats.
24. It’s Watching You
right human hand
Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash
My son was around four years old and I was driving him to daycare. I remember he was uncharacteristically grouchy. He said he didn’t want to go—which was very weird. After around the third time, I explained that mommy had to go to work, he got really quiet.
Then, his tiny voice piped up from the backseat: “The darkness is watching you. In the night they’ll come for you”. He never explained it. I slept with the hallway light on for weeks after that.
25. He Took A Trip
medication pills
Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash
My teenage son barged into my room at three am yelling at the dogs and saying they puked all over his mom’s office. Half awake I shot out of bed and rushed in...to find everything as it should be.
I thought maybe he had a bad dream and was in a half awake state too. He then started ranting about how they must have eaten it and cleaned it up. By this time I was wide awake but not clear on what was going on.
Then the weird stuff kicked into high gear. He started whispering and telling me to be quiet because his cousin was hiding in his closet listening to our conversation. I was freaking out thinking my son had lost his mind and had a serious mental breakdown and separation from reality
It turned out the guy had intentionally taken 10 Dramamine. Why did he do it? Because he read online that they will make you hallucinate. Well, I guess he was right, but it wasn’t happy dancing forest elves. It was angry dogs and nosy laundry monster cousins hiding in your closet at three am hallucinations.
26. From Another World
Mars on a black background
Photo by NASA on Unsplash
When my daughter was around seven or eight, she used to always insist that she had lived on Mars. This was, apparently, before she was brought to earth to be born. She's 12 now and still brings it up occasionally.
It's funny because she's so casual about it when she mentions it. To this day, I can't tell if she has a really good imagination or if she really believes it.
27. She Read Me
round wooden cafeteria tables and chairs inside room
Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash
When my daughter was three, we’d gone for a meal at a really old pub-style restaurant. She wanted the toilet, so I took her. The pub had the kind of washroom where it’s a little room on its own.
Now, she was in that phase where they are basically horrible and if you do or say the wrong thing, well…there will be the most almighty tantrum. At that time, her big thing was: no talking while she was on the toilet.
I know, three year olds are so weird. So, I’m standing there silently looking out of this really tiny barred window, while she does her business. It’s a tiny Tudor window, and the first thought that popped into my head was that it would be impossible to get out of if the place was on fire.
Don’t ask why, but that’s just my brain. She shocked me next. Suddenly, I hear her little voice say quietly: “It’s okay Mummy, there won’t be a fire”. Now I know for a fact that I didn’t say anything out loud, she had me that well trained not to speak while she was on the toilet.
Somehow she heard my thoughts. She did it again a couple of times in the next few months, and then has never done it again. It was so bloody weird.
28. He’d Checked Out
boy leaning on black wall
Photo by Luke Pennystan on Unsplash
When my son was six or seven, he would sleepwalk. This was no biggie. I’d just lead him back to his room and get him comfy in bed. Except one time something strange happened. I led him back to bed, got him all covered up, and said “goodnight Connor”.
He immediately sat straight up like the Exorcist, looked at me all wide eyed—but somehow also blank—and said in a voice straight from the devil: “Connor’s not here right now”.
I never woke him up while he was sleepwalking, but I did that night. He had freaked me right out. It kind of freaks me out a bit still when I think about it. He’s 22 now.
29. It’s My Ball
high angle photo of assorted-color plastic balls
Photo by Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash
When one of my daughters was about 18 months old, her cousin—who was not as physically capable as her yet, but the same age—took a ball from her. He was crawling on the floor playing with it, and she came up to him, grabbed him by the front of the neck of his shirt with both of her little hands, lifted him up off the floor, and started screaming at him.
It was the most unsettling thing I've ever seen a toddler do. It cracks me up now, but it was intense to witness in the moment.
30. He Just Faded Away
white textile with red stain
Photo by Crina Parasca on Unsplash
So, my son was probably about four or five years old. I used to wake him up every morning. I go in one morning and he is already awake in bed. His eyes were wide open and the blanket pulled up to his chin. He is completely still and just staring at the corner of his room.
I looked at him, looked at the corner, waited a couple of seconds, and asked him what was wrong. Still looking at the corner, he says, "Somebody crawled on the floor, and up the wall, and looked around. When he looked at me his head did this".
Then he pointed his finger in the air, and just started spinning it in a circle very fast. I put my hand on his back and said, "Let's go get breakfast and watch some cartoons". He looked very freaked out, and I wanted to get his mind off of it.
As he is walking down the hall in front of me, he sort of half whispers out loud: "He just faded away". I didn't let him know it, but I was freaking out inside. He is eight years old now, and I asked him if he remembers it.
He said he does, and that's not all. He said that he saw it another time backward crawling on his ceiling before just fading away again. Freaky.
31. It’s Just Blood
blonde-haitred Barbie doll photo
Photo by Sandra Gabriel on Unsplash
When I was a kid, my parents had left me to play with Barbies unsupervised for a moment. When they came back, I had drawn all over the dolls with a red marker. It was absolutely everywhere.
Then I calmly turned around and proceeded to explain that: ”it’s just blood”, and that ”an accident happened”.
Now I have absolutely no clue where I picked that up from, but my parents love to remind me of it even almost 30 years after. They were apparently quite creeped out by it.
32. Let Him Sleep
rocking chair on attic near window
Photo by Dan V on Unsplash
My grandmother and grandfather raised me. To me, they were my parents. My grandmother passed in 2015 and my grandfather passed when my son was five months old. My son was born in 2020. When my son was younger than two, he would stare into the air and giggle, his eyes following something.
I’m talking intense giggling and a real belly laugh. The giggling would keep him up at night when he was trying to go to sleep. Eventually, I just assumed it was my grandparents playing with him, and that he could see them.
My husband was adamantly against this, as he doesn’t believe in ghosts. But to me, the next event proved him wrong. One night when I was alone, I was rocking my son, and he was laughing and looking to the same area of the ceiling. He was following something.
Right out loud, I said: “Let him sleep, Nanny, you can play together tomorrow when he wakes up". Immediately, he stopped laughing, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. I told my husband and he thought I was nuts.
He believed it happened but was convinced it was a coincidence. But the next night my husband and I were playing with my son before bed and my husband offered to rock him to sleep. The same thing was happening, so I quietly walked in and sat beside the rocking chair and watched my son in glee, smiling ear to ear and staring at the ceiling, following something.
I rubbed his head and whispered: “Okay Nanny, let’s let him sleep for the night, he’s had a big day". Again, he immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep. My husband was completely freaked out.
Since then, whenever he did this, we politely asked my grandmother to let him sleep so they could play together in the morning. I’m telling you, it worked every time we asked. If it didn’t work when I asked for my grandma to stop, I told my Papa to let the boy sleep and it would work.
I barely believed in ghosts or spirits or anything before, but I do now. My husband does too.
33. She Misses Her Star
white mountain under starry night
Photo by Chantal & Ole on Unsplash
My three-year-old daughter came up to me as I was sitting on the couch, reading. She leaned against my knee and heaved a big sigh...sort of an existential despair type sigh. I asked her what the matter was.
Her face was turned into my leg, so I looked down at her curly head. She turned her head up and said, “I'm tired of this planet. I want to go back to the star where I came from".
I picked her up, hugged her close, and said something like, “I know, sweetie...I know”. I never asked her about it again. Several times I sort of alluded to something that would give her an opening, if she wished to talk about it, but she never brought it up again.
34. Over-The-Top Empathy
a baby being examined by a doctor and nurse
Photo by CDC on Unsplash
Children getting their injections is always awful. Well, imagine when you have twins. My mother had volunteered to help me out with the task, and off we went to the doctor. We decided that I would hold the one getting the shot, and my mother would hold the other one. Then it happened.
When the doctor jabbed the one in my arms, to our surprise, it was the other one that screamed in pain. The looks between me, mom and the health visitor were incredible.
35. The Omen Was An Omen
The Omen on Vimeo
vimeo.com
One of my sons, when he was about one, used to carry around our DVDs of both the 1976 and the 2006 movie The Omen. So we went to great pains and hid them apart from each other.
Sure enough, he would search quietly all over the house until he found them. Both of them. And then he’d carry them around again. When we took them away, he cried and threw a fit. It was so creepy.
36. As Easy As C B A
brown wooden blocks with numbers
Photo by Sven Brandsma on Unsplash
When my son was three years old, he was learning the alphabet pretty quickly. One morning he woke up and flawlessly started saying the alphabet backwards.
I was half asleep and thought, “Wow, that's cool”. Later, after having coffee and waking up a bit, I realized he was never taught to say it backwards. I was in a state of shock thinking how was it possible for a three year old to suddenly think: "let me try it backwards".
37. Just Say No
turned on study lamp beside bed
Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash
I’m not a parent, but I babysit my sister’s daughters regularly. They are 10 months and two years old. The older sister laid down for her nap today, like usual, and was in her room for about 20 minutes.
I was down the hallway in the living room with the little one. I started to hear big sister talking, and she sounded scared. She was crying and sniffling a bit, but not loudly. I walked down the hall and peeked in the door and she was standing in her crib staring across the room, talking quietly.
I opened the door and she started crying loudly and saying, “No! Don’t do that!” While pointing across the room. While comforting her for the next 15 minutes, she would randomly look in other spots of the room, point, and cry.
Finally I said, “Do you want me to tell them no?” And she said yes. So I pointed around random spots in her room and said “No! No! No!” She was able to lay down and go back to sleep after that. I am worried that I have beef with the ghosts in my sister's house now.
38. Planetary Return
a close up of a saturn planet with a black background
Photo by Planet Volumes on Unsplash
I was staying over at my sister’s house, and my nine-year-old daughter and I were sharing a room. My daughter was already deeply asleep on the bed and I was laying beside her getting ready to go to bed myself.
I was in that moment where you’re transitioning into sleep, but still awake. Suddenly, I heard her say in a very clear and articulate voice like she was 100% awake: “It is the return of Saturn”.
My eyes shot open, and I turned around and looked at her. She was still soundly asleep, as was everyone else in the house. I’m assuming it was some sort of auditory hallucination or the transition into a dream, but it sure creeped me out.
39. Second Coming Of Second Cousin
girl in white and teal sleeveless dress standing on green grass field during daytime
Photo by Peyman Farmani on Unsplash
My daughter was about two and a half at the time. She’d been saying, “Hi John!” in her room even though there was nobody there. I said, kind of amused, "John who, honey?" She replied: "John G Hanson!" This sent me into shock. This was a cousin of mine, who had taken his own life across the country six years earlier.
This was a second cousin, and he didn’t have a last name she would have known. I asked her where John G Hanson was. She trotted out into the hallway and pointed to the stairs.
Not down the stairs, but straight ahead, if that makes sense. We waved “Hi” to John, and then I swiftly changed the subject.
40. Come See The Lady
woman holding behind curtain
Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash
This was almost 20 years ago. My youngest son was about three I think. I was up late on a Friday or Saturday night watching television while the kids were sleeping. My son came out of his room and said, "Dad, come see the lady in my room".
I was a little freaked out, so I went with him. We got to his room and no one was there. He just says: "She's gone now". I asked where she was or something like that, and he said: "She comes out of the wall".
41. She Hung Out With Her Dolls
brown haired doll
Photo by Michal GADEK on Unsplash
When my daughter was four or five years old, she used to tie up her doll and hang it from the top bunk bed. You would walk into her room and there it would be—tied up with shoelaces, robe ties or what have you—hanging helplessly.
My wife and I would talk to her and express that it wasn't okay. She would say she understood, but three days go by and that doll is hanging again.
42. A Treasure Trove
Mass Effect 3 - The Citadel | Joshua Livingston | Flickr
www.flickr.com
At about 18 months, my son discovered that if he pressed the buttons on the boxes sitting under the TV all sorts of cool things would happen. Things like lights turning on and trays coming out of them and whirring sounds.
One day I wanted to play Mass Effect 3 and couldn't find the game disc for the life of me, despite knowing I left it in the Xbox. Since I'm not a really organized gamer, I looked in every game box and then looked in several DVD boxes.
No luck. It had vanished. About a month later I was cleaning up my son's toys and realized he had a bunch of stuff under the seat of this little wooden European car we bought him that he rode all around the apartment on.
Inside the compartment was my Mass Effect 3 disc along with all sorts of stuff my wife and I had been looking for for weeks and months. Apparently, he pressed the eject button on the Xbox, saw the disc, realized he could pick it up, did so and then put it with the rest of his "treasure".
43. He Greets The Darkness
boy playing chevrolet camaro toy on floor
Photo by Segun Osunyomi on Unsplash
While I'm a parent, the creepiest thing I've experienced was while at work at a child care center. I work with infants and we have a sleep room, which is sort of separated from the play area.
The sleep room was dark since we had set it up for nap time while the children ate their lunch. On this day in particular, one of the boys looked into the darkness, smiled, waved and said "hi!".
I looked over to the room and there was definitely nothing there. He was pretty friendly though and would usually smile, wave and say "hi!" to people as they walked past the room.
I asked my co-worker if she would mind putting the kids to sleep that day as she hadn't heard him say this. Yes, I sacrificed my co-worker to the ghost along with the children. They had a good run.
44. A Sixth Sense
grayscale photograph of Jesus Christ statue
Photo by Arturo Rey on Unsplash
When I was little, I apparently saw people who were deceased all the time. I had come close to dying myself a couple times from food allergies. I had to be resuscitated.
My mom told me she walked me into the hospital one day completely limp, turning blue around the mouth, and screamed "my baby is dying" but the doctors revived me. So, needless to say, the fact that I told her I saw ghosts scared her.
It got freakier when my nephew was stillborn. I wasn't there for the birth, but I apparently told her about how I had played with him in the sky, and that we would leap from mountaintop to mountaintop and other weird things.
I also apparently described him perfectly. Amount of hair, color of hair, and other features. By now my mom was really freaking out. Then, when I was about four years old, I apparently woke up one morning and told my mom how Jesus came to see me the night before.
How we were in a large white room, surrounded by what she believed to be—based on my description—angels. I told her that Jesus came up to me, lifted me onto his lap, and I played with his beard and "dress" while he smiled, laughed and played with me. Then he kissed me on the cheek and told me he loved me.
Yeah, she nearly had a breakdown because she thought he was letting her know he was about to take me. These stories are all backed up by my siblings too. I apparently scared them multiple times with this stuff.
45. From Under The Bed
black and white bed linen
Photo by Zane Lee on Unsplash
I have a bedroom that is really dark during the night. As in, I can't see the hand in front of my face. One night I woke up to my daughter right in front of my face whispering: "mommy, mommy". All I could see was just a big shadow when I woke up.
It scared the living daylights out of me. This is something that my sons have done too. But not that close to my face. She also snuck into our room in the middle of the night and grabbed my foot to wake me up.
My childhood fear was realized except it was my own little monster instead of one that lives under the bed.
46. Don’t Go Up The Stairs
a close up of a doll with red hair
Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash
We were at my best friend’s mom's house last week on Mother's Day. They just bought the house so we were dropping by to give a housewarming gift. My three-year-old daughter was with us, and she looked at a staircase that was gated off going upstairs.
For some reason she asked where it went. My friend's mom said it was the attic. My daughter looked at it for a while longer and walked away. When we were driving home, my daughter said, verbatim: "Mommy, the doll in the attic has monsters in it".
I was confused and asked her to elaborate. She said, "Auntie Mary's doll has lots of monsters in it. It lives in the attic". She wasn't scared or anything, just very matter of fact. Alrighty then. I guess we're not going to visit her ever again.
47. Imagined Trauma
boy in pool smiling during daytime
Photo by Drew Gilliam on Unsplash
I went to pick up my son at daycare and the support staff seemed to be very concerned about something. They hemmed and hawed a little, then told me they went swimming that day.
They said they hoped it wasn't distressing for my five-year-old son, but they thought I should know they went swimming. I was confused. I asked them to explain themselves.
They said that when they were telling the kids about pool safety, he volunteered that his little sister had drowned in a pool because somebody jumped in without looking. He was apparently quite convincing.
I had to explain to them that he's never had a sister or any sibling at all. They were flabbergasted. When I asked him why he told this story, he just shrugged. There was no real reason.
I think he was maybe trying to lend more importance to the topic of pool safety with his story. Sometimes you never learn why your kid does something.
48. Meet The Parents
woman in brown dress standing on flower field during daytime
Photo by Mateusz Raczynski on Unsplash
For a few weeks, my daughter started panicking at bed time about the "parents" that would visit her during the night. It escalated to some serious nightmares and terrors, and was also very creepy.
We asked her a lot of questions like: “Are the parents us?" and “Are they your friend's parents?” You never know if shady stuff is going on there. Her answer to these questions, however, was always no. It was just "the parents".
A few weeks later my wife is driving down the road with our daughter, and she freaks out: “Mom, look, it's the parents! That's when we finally figured it out. My wife follows my daughter’s eyes and sees a bunch of scarecrows.
Somehow she thought scarecrows were called "parents" and of course scarecrows are creepy. It was also Halloween so yeah, she was terrified of them.
49. Where’s My Sister?
woman in gray sweater carrying girl in blue denim jacket
Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash
One day when my son was about three, he started asking all kinds of interesting questions about his younger sister. He was then providing details about the way she dresses and her personality.
I kept trying to ask if he meant his cousins or a friend from school, or maybe a character on his favorite TV show, but this only made him more upset. By the time my wife came into the room, he was nearly stamping his feet asking these questions I couldn't answer.
After my wife tried to calm him down and assure him that there was no little sister, he got even more upset and screamed, "Then why does she look just like you?" This caused my wife to run out of the room crying and slam the door to the bedroom behind her. Because there was something he could never know.
Just over a year earlier, my wife had a miscarriage at about nine weeks in. It was an emotional event she still hasn't completely recovered from to this day. I still have no idea to whom my son was referring.
The good news is that this sort of talk ended that day and was never spoken of again. He now has a real little sister. It was a spine-tinglingly creepy conversation I'll never forget.
50. He Just Growled
a church with a pew and flowers on it
Photo by The Good Funeral Guide on Unsplash
My partner and my son both used to drive me to work every day. On the way there, there was a funeral home. Pretty much right away, my son started growling whenever we passed it. He’d just stare at the window and growl like a dog.
He never growled at anything else, so we asked him why he was growling. He just said “You have to growl back at the growlers”.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
Giphy
What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
Giphy
Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
Giphy
Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...
The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
Giphy
"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.