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Parents Reveal Spooky Things Their Kids Have Done That Have Actually Made Them Believe In The Paranormal

Children are wonderful... until they're scaring the living daylights out of you, that is.

Today's burning question came from Redditor blurryrhombus, who asked the online community "Parents of Reddit, what is something your kids started doing/seeing that made you believe they were communicating/seeing ghosts?"

Leave it to these parents to serve us ice-cold dishes of Can we f*cking not?


"My son..."

My son will be quiet for ages in his room and I'll think he's asleep, then he'll start hysterically laughing. He's 2.

GledaTheGoat

"Before our oldest was talking..."

Before our oldest was talking, we found that often when we lay him down in his room (either to sleep or change his nappy), he'd look over our shoulder and start smiling or chuckling, like he was reacting to someone. My wife and I independently decided that it was my dad come to look in on his first grandchild. (All the other grandparents are still alive, dad took his own life when I was 12.)

This went on for a couple of months or so but we never addressed it out loud at the time. Then we'd put our boy down to sleep and for a little while we'd hear him chuckling and gurgling for a while before he slept. Kids do that but it really sounded like he was reacting to someone playing with him.


One night he was still going an hour after we put him down and my wife said "he's your dad, go talk to him."

So, feeling slightly silly at first, I went in and said to the room, "dad, please let him sleep!" I told my son "say goodnight to grandpa and get some sleep."

As I walked out, I said "I miss you dad. I love you." I've never been too sure about whether I really believe in spirits but I certainly felt suddenly warm and comforted.

That was the last night we heard the bedtime playing. From then on, when we put our boy down, he went to sleep without a quiver and still does several years on.


About 18 months later our second child (now at roughly the same age her brother was when dad visited) starts howling not long after she's gone to bed. I go in and comfort her but got a distinct feeling of confusion for a minute before it went and then she settled down.

A couple of nights later the same thing happens. I go in to settle her again but this time I said "dad, she can't handle this like <brother> did. If you were here, she'd love you and be in your lap all the time but not like this. She can't deal with it, please leave her alone."

That was the last visit we ever had that we're aware of, even with their three younger siblings.

StuffLooken

"We took my 3 year old daughter..."

We took my 3 year old daughter to meet my wife's grandmother who lived on the other side of the county...we walk in the house and my daughter doesn't even look at her great grandmother, but instead goes straight over to a picture of her great great grandmother, points at it and says, "That's the lady who lives in my room. She's nice."

Keith_Creeper

"I had a dog..."

I had a dog from the time I was about 6 or 7 until I was about 19 or 20. My oldest son was born a few years after he died. Flash forward to when my son was around 2.5, he started telling me about "the black dog that lives in the basement" (where the dog, who was a black lab died.) He said something along the lines of "I woke up when you were still working and the black dog was in our room."

I asked if he meant our current dog, who was black and tan, but he was insistent it wasn't "Goonior" but "the other dog." And I also didn't allow the dog in our room, ever, and he never tried to come in.

Also, same kid, same time frame...

My best friend committed suicide days before my son's first birthday. He had no recollection of Pat besides knowing he had an Uncle named Pat. Well, I come home from work one morning and he is wide the f**k awake at 6am (I worked overnights and he usually slept until around 9am) talking in his crib. I assumed he was talking to himself. I asked him who he was talking to and he said "my pirate friend" and said "he has a patch" and I kinda brushed it off. Then I realized "wait... Pat was blind in one eye... Pat always cosplays pirates... Pat loved him..."

Pat continued to visit my son for years after that.

Muhryzzie

"When my youngest son started speaking..."

Giphy

When my youngest son started speaking, the wife had a friend with a newborn. My son was constantly telling us what the friends baby was saying and wanted and he spoke to the baby more than anyone. The theory is that he was still in the cusp of being able to communicate with babies and adults but, it tripped us out for like 2 months until the baby started talking Babel. After that, the kid didn't understand what the baby was saying and would just tell us, "he's upset."

LowBidder505

"She had no idea..."

My 4 year old daughter started not being able to sleep. She was complaining that "Simon" was coming to her room and yelling at her. It got to the point she wouldn't let us leave the room until we told him to go away and leave her alone.

My Catholic mom in law was getting worried and gave me a bag of blessed medals while I was at Walmart and saw her. I rolled my eyes and threw them in a drawer when I got home instead of burying them and saying prayers like she wanted.

My daughter stopped seeing Simon the same night. She had no idea about the medals (wasn't with me at Walmart and I put them in the drawer before she got home) so it creeped me out.

sendmeabook

"The next morning..."

My kid has sliding mirrored doors on her closet. She goes to bed early but I check on her now and then. One night I was on my way to bed and I hear weird chanting coming from her room. I open the door to check on her and she's standing on the bed staring in the mirror. She looks at me and says "mirror me is the real me." I close the door and nope right out of there.

The next morning I ask her about what she was doing. She said "I was talking to Horrifying Me. She lives in the mirror and has no bones."

My husband's family is haunted so I guess it was just a matter of time but f**k that. Kids are so creepy.

comicshopgirl

"As an infant..."

My daughter had two moments. As an infant, whenever we laid her on the changing table, she would always squirm into whatever position would allow her to stare into one corner on the ceiling of the room. It was a plain white room and plain white ceiling, so nothing worth looking at. She would always stare and smile or laugh. As she got a little older she would point at it and say Hi. We never really worried because it always seemed to be a positive experience for her. Not a ghost, but just as eerie.

When she was 3, we were getting her ready to meet my Aunt Mary for the first time. We are not a church-going family, but she proudly told us that she already knows someone named Mary. We ask about her friend Mary and she smiles and tells us "She's God's mom," and tells how she hasn't talked to her in a long time. Of course she doesn't remember any if these conversations anymore, but they are burned in my memory.

CognitiveTraveler

"We took it home..."

My father bought a Native American medicine bag while he was in the western US. He brought it back and gave it to my son, who was 2 or 3 at the time.

We took it home and hung it on the door knob of my son's closet. Soon afterwards, my son started complaining of not being able to sleep because the bell on the bag would start ringing. Then "the spoonbills" would start coming out of the closet. He didn't seem particularly bothered by the spoonbills, but just irritated that they made the bell ring.

edgarpickle

"My daughter was..."

My daughter was refusing to fall asleep so after a while I asked her why she wouldn't and she said "Because those people are watching us." or something similar and pointed to a corner of the room where there wasn't anything even vaguely human shaped.

We slept downstairs that night.

Custard-donut

"I went in..."

I went in to my 3 year old son's room to find his vent covered with a blanket. I went to take it off and he started screaming and yelling that the "glowy" would escape... the next morning I found him sleeping on my bedroom floor because I let the glowy out.

bahamallama214

"Last night..."

Last night me and my partner both heard a sound like 'yoo-hoo!' As in someone talking to a baby.

Our 17mo daughter started giggling like I've never heard and babbling away like she always does when she's 'talking'.

This isn't the first instance of something.... odd... happening in our house, but it sent goosebumps all over me.

buddingredditor

"He laughs at this toy..."

Giphy

My youngest son named his favorite toy (stuffed dinosaur plushie) after my dead sister. I've never spoken her name out loud before to him or around him. I've never brought him to her grave. He'd never know this name otherwise, it's a European name my parents gave my sister because it "sounded pretty". One day he took a small plastic gun from one of his army guys and put it in the hand of another toy, and chased the dinosaur around manically saying "boom BOOM BOOM you're so dead and your baby is too!" My sister was 6mo pregnant when her boyfriend killed her, her unborn died as well. He laughs at this toy A LOT. Like... too much for it just being a game. He talks to it all the time as if it's responding to him in real time.

"My parents' first child..."

My 3 year old daughter asked "How did your sister die?"

My parents' first child died at 2 weeks due to complications. She was born the day before my mom's birthday and neither parent EVER talked about her because it was just too painful.

There is no way my daughter could have ever overheard that not only I had a sister, but that she died as well.

A month later daughter tells me "Mommy is going to give me a baby brother in the Spring. Wife and I found out we were pregnant 2 weeks later... we had a son in March.

olafthebent

"I read one part..."

Last night I was reading my son a book before bed. (15 months old) I read one part and tickled him and he said "hi" and waved towards his crib. At that moment the mobile started playing music.

stockxcarx29

People Break Down The Missing Person Cases That Just Don't Add Up

Reddit user yourlastnames asked: 'what missing persons case is the most confusing / doesn’t add up?'

Content warning: suicide.

There are truly some strange unsolved cases out there, but there's nothing quite like hearing of a person who has vanished as if out of thin air.

While some of these cases have been explained away or even solved, there are some that remain a mystery that truly does not add up, no matter how the puzzle pieces fall.

Curious about these cases, in particular, Redditor yourlastnames asked:

"What missing persons case is the most confusing [to you] or just doesn't add up?"

The Last Ride of Terrance Williams

"Terrance Williams disappeared in 2004. He's the subject of a fascinating podcast called 'The Last Ride.'"

"The short version is that he was taken into custody in Naples, Florida, after being pulled over in the early hours for traffic violations. He was never seen again."

"The deputy that pulled him over tried to conceal the traffic stop even from his own organization, but staff opening a local business saw the whole thing."

"When the sheriff's department finally looked into it, they discovered the deputy was involved in a similar disappearance of a man named Felipe Santos in 2003. To this day the deputy claims no knowledge of Williams's whereabouts, despite being caught out in a series of lies."

- AlanMercer

Paddy Moriarty and Kellie

"Paddy Moriarty and his dog, Kellie. They went missing in an outback town in Australia with a population of 12 people."

"They were last seen leaving the pub riding his quad bike the one-kilometer distance to his house. He or his dog have never been found and no one has been charged in relation to his disappearance."

- Bigred0762

Susan Powell and Family

"Susan Powell went missing from her home in West Valley, Utah, on December 6, 2009."

"She is presumably dead. Her husband, Josh, was the main suspect and just a real piece of work. No one knows what really happened to her."

"Sadly in 2012, Josh murdered their kids and committed suicide after Susan’s parents gained custody of the kids."

- AlexisVonTrappe

"This case is so frustrating since his brother and father are both dead too. We’ll never know what happened to Susan, but I’m positive she’s in an old mine shaft somewhere. F**k Josh Powell."

- burittosquirrel

​The Last Call from Brandon Swanson

"Brandon Swanson. He drove into a ditch and called his parents for help. They stayed on the phone with him for 47 minutes while they drove around looking for him."

"They heard him say, 'Oh s**t,' and then the phone went silent. They eventually found his car far away from where he said he was but he was never found."

- kittengoesrawr

"Reading this was absolutely chilling. It seems at first glance that it's most likely he drowned, but that really doesn't make sense because the water was only 10 feet deep and they would have found the body."

"He just suddenly said, 'OH S**T!' and the phone went silent, but he did not hang up. The phone call continued with total silence from his end. What the f**k happened to him?"

- angelposts

Babysitter Mar Lou Bostwick

"Mary Lou Bostwick. She disappeared July 18, 1972, from Waverly, New York. She was dropped off by her dad to babysit at a friend's house. This was also her 16th birthday. Her mom stopped by later with a cake and presents."

"The people in the apartment told her that Mary never showed up. However, her bag was in the residence. Nothing else was ever found."

"There was another girl around the same age, Sharon Coston, who was abducted and murdered in a nearby town about a year later. October 1983 in Sayre, Pennsylvania."

"There was a man convicted of that, but he always denied doing anything to Mary. One of the people who testified against him and was given immunity was a suspect in Mary's case. Mary's mom thinks there's a connection, but nothing was ever really found."

"I've sadly never seen anyone cover her disappearance on any of the podcasts or YouTube shows."

- Vamp459

Derek Seehausen of San Diego

​"Derek Seehausen. My friend was dating him at the time of his disappearance, and he was actively planning his future in medicine, and was last seen in San Diego."

"I saw him about two months before he disappeared. Please send any tips."

- Hereforit2022Y

The Beaumont Children

"The Beaumont Children. Three kids go to the beach, are seen with a mystery man, and never make it back home."

"Never found out who the man was or where they went. Their parents just recently died without ever getting any closure."

- snguyenx96

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes

"Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. The whole family (parents and four kids) went missing overnight in 2011."

"Employers, schools, and the extended family received weird letters informing of their absence or departure (one of them saying they are going into a witness protection program). Two weeks later they found the corpses of the mother, the kids, and the dog hidden behind the house."

"They investigated and retraced the father’s whereabouts in the south of France. He was last seen leaving a hotel a few days before. The region was thoroughly searched, but he was never to be found."

- z4zazym

Branson Perry of Skidmore

"Branson Perry, aged 20, disappeared from Skidmore, Missouri in April 2001."

"He was working on his house with a friend, went to the shed to grab some power cords, and was never seen again."

- AdamR91

The Incomplete Story of Marshall Iwassa

"Marshall Iwassa. Good guy."

"He came back to his hometown to visit his family and friends, and everything by all accounts was good. He left to take the two-hour drive to where he was living and never made it. Instead, it was recorded he spent the entire night trying to get into his storage unit and then nothing."

"A week or maybe more, his truck was found 12 hours away on a back road in the middle of the woods burnt to a crisp with belongings thrown about everywhere, no sign of Marshal."

"From what I remember, the family was adamant that some of the things inside the truck, burnt or not, were missing, things they knew he had. The truck was even missing parts."

"It's been four years and there's never been answers. It makes me sad and fearful of long travels. From what I know of him, he was a fantastic friend; I hope they get closure one day."

- devbot8

Out Shopping Asha Degree

"Asha Degree."

"She went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city, and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind."

"Several passing motorists saw her; when one turned around at a point 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from her home and began to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into a wooded area."

"In the morning, her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. No one has seen her since."

- EstateWeary5789

The Vanishing Marion Barter

"Marion Barter here in Australia."

"She boarded a plane overseas in 1997 and changed her name beforehand (didn't tell family). She apparently came back to Australia for a few days (according to passenger records) and completely disappeared."

"It's an ongoing investigation at the moment, there is a podcast about it called, 'The Lady Vanishes,' featuring her daughter."

"It's so tragically fascinating."

- CuddlySubject

The Grieving Bryce Laspisa

"Bryce Laspisa."

"He was driving to his parents' house (three hours) after an argument with his girlfriend, apparently due to his alcohol and video game addiction and abuse of prescription medication."

"Partway through the drive, he pulled off the highway and just sat there… from 9:00 AM to 3:'00 PM."

"A roadside assistance guy checked on him twice and said he seemed fine and coherent, and Bryce told him he would be carrying on back to his parents shortly."

"Sometime later, his car was found only a few miles away, driven off the embankment, and he was nowhere to be found. They never found him."

- Just_Raisin1124

News Anchor Jodi Huisentruit

"Jodi Huisentruit was a news anchor who disappeared in the early morning in Mason City, Iowa."

"There were signs that she was abducted and the investigation is still ongoing with new leads nearly 30 years later."

- Have_you_eaten_yet

Three-Year-Old William Tyrrell

"William Tyrrell. In 2014, the three-year-old boy went missing from his foster grandmother's yard whilst playing with his sister. His foster mother and foster grandmother were apparently watching them play outside, and the foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea."

"They then noticed they hadn’t seen or heard him in a while and searched the house and yard."

"In 2021, police began searching national parkland near the grandmother's home for human remains. They also revealed that the foster mother and grandmother were persons of interest in his presumed death."

"Earlier today, the foster mother pled not guilty to assaulting another foster child that was in her care (a 10-year-old girl). She has also been charged with intimidating and stalking a minor. Her husband has also been charged with the same crimes, but plead not guilty to all counts. The foster grandmother is now dead."

"Basically, police believe that William died whilst in the care of the foster family, and they disposed of his body to cover it up. Police are recommending that the foster parents be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse."

"His photos went viral at the time of the 'disappearance,' and he went missing whilst in a Spiderman costume, and the photo that was distributed was taken minutes before."

- Red_bug91

These stories are truly haunting, and it's no wonder that Redditors have worried themselves with what might have happened to these missing people.

We can only hope that answers come for at least some of these cases and that their closest loved ones achieve some sense of closure eventually.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Senior citizen using a camera
Tiago Muraro/Unsplash

The realization you're getting older can smack you in the face at any given time, and boy-howdy is it fun!

It can be in the morning when you get up out of bed, and your body makes crackling noises, or when you can't seem to keep up at the gym and you cut short your running time on the treadmill.

That's just the physical.

When you suddenly have the epiphany that you're suddenly the oldest one in a group setting, it's humbling.

Curious to hear from strangers online who are no longer the young whipper-snappers they imagined themselves to eternally be, Redditor redmambo_no6 asked:

"Redditors with younger coworkers, what was your 'I’m officially old' moment?"

These moments of realization never get old. But people do.

Senior Kitty

"My childhood cat lived to 21.5 so teaching (freshman biology lab, so students were ~18) became very weird when I realized my cat was older than my students."

– mollusck_magic

Aging In Reverse

"I'm a preschool teacher. It's been a TRIP to watch parents go from Soooo much older than me, to the same age as me, and now they're younger than me!?!?"

– Smart_Alex

The Shook Pediatrician

"My kids pediatrician was also my husband's pediatrician when he was a kid. He was the first kid she had to come back as a parent and she was SHOOK."

– trixtred

Older Together

"See, that's what really kinda drives it home for me."

"I'm not bothered that I'm 48. But that means my school friends are 48, and that's weird for some reason. Like, I went to school with a guy who was wild and crazy. That guy is 48 now, and has a new grandbaby. Somehow, he's old, and I'm just 'getting up there '."

– ThatWeirdTexan

Relics of the past don't just pertain to humans.

Dialing It In

"Had a co-worker ask me, 'Back before cell phones, did you just have to wait around at your house for a call?' Uh, yeah, pretty much."

– Status-Effort-9380

"Reminds me of having to explain the concept of collect calls to my kids. The whole speed speaking where you were for pick up during the recording so your Mama never accepted the collect call."

– DaraScot

Legendary Aircraft

"Various colleagues were debating whether the Concorde had been real. They couldn’t fathom that supersonic civilian aircraft used to exist and now they don’t anymore."

"The Concorde last flew in 2003, when these colleagues were toddlers."

– geckos_are_weirdos

Foreign References

"We were talking about where we were on 9/11, and my coworker went quiet. He wasn’t even born."

"We also had a band that was famous in the 90s stay at the hotel, and he had no idea who they were, meanwhile I was so star struck as they were my entire childhood!"

– Itsagabby

Gravity is not our friend, and not just because of its effect on our faces.

The Day It Went Downhill

"When i fell down the last couple of steps on a stairway. No one pointed and laughed like I expected, instead they helped me up and asked me if I was okay. That’s when I knew."

– day_of_duke

It's About The Recovery

"F'k. That has to be a bummer."

"You fall. You know you're fine. You feel like an idiot. You get ready to wave to the crowd as they laugh and clap. But then... a hand is placed on your arm and you hear 'that was a big fall, are you ok?' You stay in shock for a moment. Of course, you're fine. Everyone is looking at you. They all have concerned faces. Sh*t. Two weeks later, the soreness finally subsides."

– minimalfighting

Ice Slip, You Slip, We All Slip

"This happened to me as well....walking my dog the day after a huge snowstorm. There were some rowdy teenage boys having a snowball fight across the street (schools were closed that day, of course). I slipped on the ice, my feet flew over my head and I landed solidly on my backside. As I struggled to get up I braced myself for the laughter and catcalls, but all I heard was "Are you OK Ma'am??' 'Do you need help??' I was in my early 50s and had never felt 'old' until that moment."

– Ouisch

Conversations with younger coworkers can be fun.

You can quote lines from your favorite TV shows and talk about the latest CD you bought at Target and brag about your new digital camera that takes better pictures than a smartphone.

And then you can watch the blank expressions on your coworkers' faces because they haven't a clue about what you speak.

Yeah. This has never happened to me...

Old.

person getting a tattoo

Collins Lesulie on Unsplash

The art of tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified skin, art and the archaeological artifacts.

The oldest tattooed human skin was found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman from between 3370 and 3100 BC.

Tattooed mummies were recovered in almost 50 archaeological digs across the Earth with locations in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines and the Andes.

But while advancements in tools and inks have opened up endless possibilities for body art, some designs have garnered a bad reputation.

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surgeons looking down at patient

National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

"I shall do by my patients as I would be done by; shall obtain consultation whenever I or they desire; shall include them to the extent they wish in all important decisions; and shall minimize suffering whenever a cure cannot be obtained, understanding that a dignified death is an important goal in everyone's life."

~ English translation of the modern abridged Hippocratic Oath

It is the hope of those seeking medical help that the medical professionals providing it will be just that—professional.

But no profession is immune to bad days, bad attitudes or bad apples.

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