The thing about fear is that it's often irrational and fear can often be summed up as the fear of the unknown. That pretty much sums up what it's like to be scared as a child, too.
What lurks in the dark corners of our bedrooms? (We don't know, but it's probably terrifying.)
What's that noise we keep hearing at night? (It's likely just the wind, but don't tell us that.)
Why did society decide that it needed Jerry Seinfeld? (This one is unanswerable.)
"What ridiculous thing scared you as a child?" –– This was today's burning question from Redditor awerli121 and it brings some much needed levity (and humor) to the notion of childish fear!
"I used to have..."
I used to have this repeating dream that scared me to death. I was always in a skyscraper made of windows, and a giant toddler would walk through the street. If the toddler saw you, you died. Weird dream, but I dreamt it repeatedly for years.
"I still think of that..."
GiphyEscalators. My mother told me that they will catch my shoestring or pants hem and pull me down and cut me into shreds. I still think of that every time I step on one.
"I lived in Mumbai."
I thought an alligator would climb up the wall of our house like a lizard and come through my window and eat me in my sleep.
I lived in Mumbai. We don't have alligators anywhere. Also, they can't do that.
"This one is weird..."
Rats, snakes, roaches, etc climbing up the pipe to the toilet and biting my butt.
My grandma's cocker spaniel jumping on me and knocking me over. He just wanted to lick me and was excited, it turns out.
Other people driving. This one is weird because I trusted absolutely nobody but my mom—if it was anyone else, ie her friends, babysitters, or even my dad, I was absolutely convinced I was going to die.
"Consequently..."
If I clapped my hands above my head, the nightmares would start. If I clapped them up there again, they would stop. (This didn't actually happen; it was what I was afraid of.)
Consequently, I had to make sure I only ever clapped my hands above my head an even number of times. If I accidentally clapped them, I had to clap them again.
"Haven't seen it since."
There's an episode of the Six Million Dollar Man where he fights this robot dude. At some point the robot gets his face punched off and the shot cuts back to his head all showing circuit boards and wires in place of the face. Freaked me the eff out. Haven't seen it since, and that was what.. 1974? Jesus.
"According to my mom..."
Balls. Literally any round object was terrifying to me apparently. According to my mom, if she wanted me in a room but didn't want me to go anywhere, she'd put a ~hand sized red ball in the exit. I was apparently too scared to even go to that side of the room.
"Return the slab..."
GiphyKing Ramses from courage the cowardly dog.
"Return the slab or suffer the curse~"
"On a trip to London..."
On a trip to London as a ten-year-old, I woke in the small hours of the morning due to jet lag and was horrified to see an orange glow outside the windows.
I convinced myself that a nuclear explosion had occurred and somehow I had managed to sleep through it.
Nothing happened for an eternity of terror.
So I mustered the courage; I slid out of bed and crawled across the floor, to peep over the window sill and look out on the devastation, the city burning
The street lights were orange, for fog. They don't have them where I'm from.
Redditor Tight_Anywhere6794 wanted to hear about the things parents have said in the past that haunts everyone still, so they asked:
"What insult have your parents said, that is stuck in your head as an adult?"
I've been blessed with the mother I had.
So I can't speak from experience.
But I've heard parenting horror stories.
Bad Expressions
Sad Kid GIF by 1tvGiphy“'You’re so annoying.' Said to me as a young kid while I was expressing enthusiasm over some new interest. Later my father complains I never tell him anything."
foppishyyy
Mean Spirited
"What did I do to deserve a fat kid?"
Silosolo
"My parents also mocked me for being fat, and outright physically abused me as in forcefully grabbed my fat child manboobs or slapped me while calling me fat-related names."
"A lot of people at school did it too, so obviously I have a lot of self-image issues like I never let anyone see me without clothes these days. The worst part is that I legitimately internalized a lot of hate, I could never care for myself enough to actually get fit."
FoeWithBenefits
What's My Name?
"My parents divorced when I was young and they hate each other. My mom would call me my dad's name when she was really upset. What makes it worse is that I confided in her that I never wanted to be like my dad. She used that ammunition against me."
Discarded_Pariah
"That's awful. You are your own person. You aren't your father."
blksmnr
Unfunny
"'You can't even laugh right.'"
"My mom in a weird moment I thought we were bonding. There's something inherently extra evil when someone tells you your joy is wrong. Told her I'm engaged and hoped she could at least be happy I'm happy and she ghosted everyone to the point the family thought died. She's a mess."
BlindEditor
"I'll never understand parents that are so hard on their own children that they can't even be happy for them. So their sole function is to bring misery to their offspring?"
macabre_irony
Evil
Oh My God Wow GIF by The Roku ChannelGiphy"My little brother was drowning, I tried to save him but also almost drowned, we got rescued by a neighbor. My mom told me that they should've left me in the pond. I haven't spoken to her in many years."
Ilookbetterthanyou
Good Lord. How do people like this exist?
Tragic.
HIM
"She told me I was acting just like my father when I would get upset. I would just get kinda pissy and sulk. He would go on rampages and scream and hit and throw things. He pushed her down the stairs once. I would never lay a finger on my current partner. The worst part is I look just like him. I was wondering if my mother always expected me to turn into my dad. I prove her wrong every day."
rot_grl
10 Years Old
"When I was ~10 years old, my mum once said 'If I could go back in time and make sure I never gave birth to you, I would in a heartbeat.'"
"Never forgot it. Talked to her about it a couple of times years later and her responses ranged from 'That never happened' to 'Oh yeah and I suppose I’m just the worst mother ever' and finally 'Yeah but I didn’t mean it, you know that.'"
"Messed me up tho tbh. Another one was '[older sibling] was the only child we actually planned for, the rest of you were accidents.' I don’t think it was intended as an insult, but being told your entire existence was an accident as a child kinda stung."
SpiderP*bes
Failures
“'You’re the biggest mistake I ever made.' - my mother when I was 5. I’m 32 now and it’s been the undercurrent for our relationship ever since, constantly wondering if anything I’ve achieved or struggled for is something she’s genuinely proud of or just relieved to say I wasn’t a total failure on her part."
thefaehost
Generational Issues
"Not a parent but a grandparent, I was adopted when I was 12 years old (my parents were both drug addicts so I was in and out of foster care most of my life) my adopted mother's father turned to me on Christmas Eve when no one else was around and said 'My daughter should have never adopted you, she should have let you stay on the streets where you belong'… he got nicer as he got older and sicker but I couldn’t find it in myself to forget what he said even almost 10 years later. Went to the funeral for moral support but was indifferent about his passing."
samweather227
Just Me
Sad Kids GIF by Cian DucrotGiphy"I was an only child and lonely. When I asked for a sibling, the response was 'If you want to know why we don't have more kids, go look in the mirror.'"
Responsible_Fly_3565
Some people should never have children.
Awful.
"What is something you no longer have patience for?"
Off The Clock Means OFF THE CLOCK!
"Working outside of work hours."
"I used to go above and beyond, now I only put in what is required."
"Life is too short to live only to work."- Chesterfieldcat
"The working world."
"My life doesn’t revolve around working here and it never will."
"It will never be a part of my identity."
"I come in, do the job, make money, go home."
"Don’t expect me to come to all the work happy hours so I can pretend how much I love working here."- nuclearsalt
Some Things Just Don't Get A Free Pass
"Sh*tty people getting a pass 'because they're family'."- cgulash
angry homer simpson GIFGiphySay What You Mean, Not What You Feel
"Having to guess what people REALLY mean by something they said."
"I take everything people say at face value now and don't replay conversations in my head to find out the real meaning anymore."
"Be passive-aggressive if you want to but talk to me like an adult if you really have a problem."- WateredDownSalt
EYES ON THE ROAD!
"People who text and drive."
"You're driving a giant piece of metal propelled by explosive liquid."
"Pay attention."- MasterfulNothasie
The Only Life That Should Concern You Is Your Own
"People and groups of people that only talk about other people."- Turf98
"People who can’t mind their fucking business and are always worried about what other people are doing."
"If it doesn’t effect you, f*ck off."
"It’s literally free."- wackwackwackjpg
GIF by WWEGiphySome People Didn't Mind Social Distancing
"People invading my personal space."- Mighty-Foreskin
Influence Can Be Dangerous
"Anything that has “influencer” in it."- chemistcarpenter
Indoor Voices People...
"Streamers screaming, losing their sh*t, breaking things, and having tantrums."
"I used to think this was so funny now I just can't stand it; I can't even watch a streamer if I notice they're not using their normal talking voice." - Reddit
Fail Oh No GIF by G2 EsportsGiphyTaking Responsibility Is A Sign Of Maturity
"People who constantly blame others for the situation they are in."- SuvenPan
Time Is Precious And Shouldn't Be Wasted
"Waiting on people who are constantly late to plans."
"I will wait 15 minutes then excuse myself."- Dabbles-In-Irony
There's Multi-Tasking, And Then There's Just Being Rude...
"People being on their phone while in a conversation with you."
"Seriously."
"Put your phone away!"- rosieblinkstime
Phone GIF by Poehlmann FitnessGiphyIt Takes So Much More Effort To Be Nasty...
"Bad manners, unkindness and general rudeness."
"It costs nothing to be a nice person and from someone who works in a customer-facing industry, attitudes, sadly, appear to be getting worse."
"It really makes me cross."- Bellamiles85
At Least They're Being Transparent
"Medicine commercials with worse side-effects than the thing being cured."- mrbbrj
Wasting our time and thoughts about things that we know can only bring us down is simply no way to get through life.
It's essential to live our lives by taking the present moment for what it is: a present.