When women become mothers, they unlock an innate ability to know everything their child is up to at all times, or so the stories go. Kids, get with the program: You can't hide anything from mom. It's just not possible, as these mothers can attest.'
(1/25)
When learning a new word, our 18 month old runs into the kitchen (away from us so we can't see him) and practices sounding out the word, thinking that we can't hear him. Then he comes back into the family room to delivery the final product.
(2/25)
My coworker found out her 12 year old son was looking at porn on the family computer when his friends were over. She made her husband go talk to him about it. Dad walked into his bedroom, sat down on his bed, and said only
"Your mother knows."
Kid just quietly muttered "oh my god. "
Never had a problem again. Coworker was dying bc he was just typing stuff like "boobs.com" and hoping to strike gold. Kinda sweet.
(3/25)
My 16yr old son watches porn. If you are sitting in bed, laptop on your lap, think about how the screen might reflect off the picture behind you! Geez... At least close the tab when i come in the room...
(4/25)
My 9 year old pretends to go right to sleep when I put her in bed but a soon as I shut her door, I hear the bedside lamp click on and her nightstand drawer open so she can pull out her stashed book(s) and read. I can't be mad. She loves to read and I can't discourage that. So every night I go check on her before I go to bed and put away her book and turn off her light. She has to know it's me doing that but she has never said a word.
(5/25)
I can hear my four year old son walking down the hall when he's supposed to be in bed because he walks like a dinosaur.
(6/25)
I set alarms for the morning on the amazon echo. When I leave the room my daughter cancels them and I hear her snicker "no school tomorrow haha". What she doesn't realize is I also have an alarm clock and my phone. She's five.
(7/25)
My niece(4) is obsessed with rocks. She had an extensive rock collection that my brother and I helped build. when her little sister(2) swallowed a rock from it her parents made her throw out the entire collection. She threw it out and when they weren't looking she got it back out. She keeps it hidden in her closet and i only know about it because i found her playing with it once while babysitting.
(8/25)
My five year old crawls into my bedroom and slides my phone off my night table Saturday mornings. She sneaks into her closet to watch YouTube. She's not allowed to watch YouTube but that extra hour of sleep is glorious. My SO and I act shocked and appalled when one of us finally goes to her closet and 'finds her'.
(9/25)
I know that he's watching YouTube videos about minecraft on his phone when he's supposed to be sleeping. I make a bit of noise in the hallway an hour after bedtime, and listen for the sound of him putting his phone away, then ten minutes later there's undeniable sounds of sleep breathing. I don't wanna always "catch" him. He needs to be able to get away with some things.
(10/25)
My son doesn't eat the sandwiches I make him for lunch at school. He just throws them away and eats the chips and cookie.
(11/25)
My 6 year old has a secret doodle pad that he draws in at bed time. I can hear his lamp click on when he sneaks drawing time in. He will never get in trouble for it.
(12/25)
GiphyI know that I walked in on my then 13yo son masturbating. but I let him believe he was stealthy enough that I didn't notice.
(13/25)
I have a three year old and every morning she comes into my room and crawls in bed with me for another 30 minutes before we get up. She has started doing this new thing where when I fall back asleep she will kiss my cheek and tell me how much she loves me. It's a small thing but I love that she does this even though she thinks I'm asleep.
There are a lot of hard things about being a parent and having to wake up early with a toddler but her sweet little voice telling me, "I love you so much mommy" makes it all worth it.
Also, sometimes she will bring me a stuffed animal to cuddle with too.
(14/25)
I know my 13 year old daughter takes an Uber to school when it's raining or when she is running late. She doesn't realise her Uber account is connected to my credit card and she must think the Uber fairy pays for it.
(15/25)
My three year old daughter doesn't understand whispering to herself isn't the same as thinking in your head, she loves to call people idiots to herself and giggle not knowing we can all actually hear her.
(16/25)
When my 9 year old is in the shower forever, I know it's because she's trying to hide the fact that she's crying because she misses her dad. It's been almost 3 months since he died, and she's still getting used to the fact that he's gone.
(17/25)
My daughter used to do this. "eat a cookie" and ask for another.
I found hundreds of cookies squirreled around various drawers and inside toys and under her bed.
She must have died in the great depression in a past life or something.
(18/25)
GiphyI know his hiding spot for hide and seek. I know exactly where he is. Hell, I can see him; behind the stroller isn't the greatest cover. I can hear him too, as he answers my exaggerated "Are you behind the couch?!??!?" with "No!"
But I'll still look for him everywhere, until he creeps out and shouts "BOO", so I can gasp and be ever-so-surprised.
Because toddlers can be fun, if you play along.
(19/25)
Have a daughter in college. Her first summer back home I went to wash all of her clothes she brought back (as a college girl, it was at least 4 loads), as I sorted her clothes before washing them out tumbled butt-plugs wrapped in a bag.
So I carefully wrapped them back up and slid them back into her things.
(20/25)
My eldest stepdaughter, 14, borrows my clothes and returns them to my closet when she's done wearing them. Not that big of a deal, but I really wish she'd ask. She goes to great length to deny that she likes my style of clothing...She will hide them in her bookbag and change in the bathroom at school. I've tried buying her similar styles in her own size (she's a medium, I'm a large/xl) but she still always goes right back to mine. I'm honored that she likes my style, even if it's in secret, and hope that one day we can use this as a bonding experience.
My eldest son, 13, still sleeps with his plush Dalek at night. He waits until his brother (they share a room) goes to sleep, then gets it out of the top of the closet and sleeps with it, and returns it to its place in the morning. I hope he never grows out of loving something so dearly that he just can't part with it.
My middle stepdaughter, 11, and youngest daughter, 10, are full on pissed that they weren't born as twins. Seriously angry about it. So, they created their own "not-twin-twin club" and have their own secret language. The scary part is that they actually ACT like twins sometimes, to the point that if one of them is upset or hurt, the other knows about it without even being there. I hope they are always this close and share that special bond.
My youngest stepson, 9, leaves treasures for the rest of the kids to find. He has no clue that everyone in the house knows it's him because he isn't the least bit sneaky lol. He will find a pretty rock shaped like a heart and leave it for one of the girls or find an interesting looking old coin and leave it for his brother, sometimes he'll stumble across a discarded marble or something similar and leave it for his father and I. He swears it's the backward pirate that does it. I love that he has such a giving heart and hope he continues doing for others with no particular reason in mind other than to see them smile.
(21/25)
When she was three, my oldest thought if she couldn't see us, we couldn't see her. She would cover her eyes then try to sneak into the kitchen for snacks. I let it go on (other than watching to make sure she didn't fall) mostly because it was hilarious.
(22/25)
I do my kids laundry still, I went into her room while she was at school one day to grab her laundry and I found a note mixed in with her clothes it was a confession about liking girls to her best friend and to scared to tell anyone. Not going to lie and say I wasn't shocked ,she played it off amazing that she was into boys. I didn't share what I found with her or anyone else and a year later she came out to me and a few other people. I honestly struggled containing myself for that whole year waiting for the day I could just tell her I love and accept her for who she is and not to date crappy girls. For Christmas she asked me for pride stuff, I got it and she opened it in front of everyone in the family who had no idea so she could come out to them. I think she was more shocked that all the guys were just giving her the red flags of crazy women talk and not judging her.
(23/25)
My 17 y/o son copped to sneaking beer but I know it was my other (13 y/o) son. I don't say anything because the other 23.5 hours of the day my oldest is a complete a-hole and picks on his younger brother constantly. I secretly enjoy the fact that he is in trouble because he is such an a-hole all of the time.
(24/25)
I know that my nearly 14 year old daughter is inarguably gay. I don't know if she recalls, but when she was much, much younger she used to ask me questions like "What if I want to have a baby but I don't want to have a husband?" Of course, at the time, I just thought it was funny. But as she has aged it's become more and more obvious that boys are of no interest to her.
I've tested the waters once or twice to see if she may be ready to talk about it yet. She didn't engage so I have never pressed further than casual conversation.
My only fear is that she is holding on to a secret because she worries about how we may react. I can't bear the thought of her carrying something like that.
I like to think maybe SHE hasn't figured it out yet and that's why she hasn't brought it up, since we otherwise have a very open relationship.
Either way, I know. I think maybe Mom's always know. And I also know she is going to make one lucky girl very, very happy one day.
(25/25)
When my 20 month old is grunting and her face turns red, and I ask rhetorically, "are you pooping". She gets upset and shakes her head "no".
I say, "you should sit on the toilet". She runs away so she doesn't have to sit on the toilet.
But the kid loves sitting on the toilet when she doesn't have to go?!
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.