No matter what age or position in life, snooping rarely ever leads to a good outcome. Now in this day and age parents do need to be on top of their kid's private maters, it's imperative for safety but, then you must be prepared for the fallout. Kids are full of secrets and contradictions and deceit. So before you crack that phone code.... pour a bottle of something and take a deep breath.
Redditor u/kam-pow wanted to see if any parents would be willing to fess up about what uncomfortable things they've found on their children's private screens by asking.... Parents who went through their kids phones, what did you see that you wish you never saw?YouTube Guilty.
GiphyMy stepson (14) searched for "Sexy Starfire Video" and "Sexy teen titans" on my husband's YouTube. We had a good laugh and then told my stepson to use his own YouTube account for that stuff. buttsmcgillicutty
"Hot Girls in Bikinis."
When I was a horny 14 year old boy, I downloaded an app on my iTouch that just had a bunch of pictures of women in bikinis. It was nothing special so I deleted it, but then downloaded it again out of boredom. But then deleted it again after realizing I could just look up real porn on the computer.
What I didn't know was that the App Store on my iTouch was connected to my mom's email, so she got a notification that I had downloaded the app, not once, but twice!
She picked me up from school the day after and asked why I had downloaded this app of "Hot Girls in Bikinis." I fumbled my way through a lie saying how my fingers slipped and I accidentally downloaded it. But then she hit me with the, "But you downloaded it twice." To which I replied, "ya my fingers slipped again causing me to download it after I deleted it." She 100% knew I was lying but, probably not feeling like having the sex talk right then (I never got the talk tbh), she just let it go and my 14 year old naive self felt like I was the best liar ever. babygotdiabetes
A good Girl...
When I was 14 I got caught by my mom reading a large document pasted full of explicit, sexual fanfiction, both straight and gay fanfiction (you can tell I was in high school a long time ago, lol)
I was luckily reading one of the few straight stories when I was caught. I snuck back in before my dad got home and sanitized the document of any homosexual fics.
When they later confronted me, I got weirdly defensive and aggressive about it, like "yeah I was reading porn, what are you gonna do about it?!?" It must have been shocking coming from a previously goodie-two-shoes Baptist girl combined with how I had acted when first caught, but they weren't aware I took away the threat of conversion therapy, lol! Lycoris
Oops. Sorry mom.
I actually had nudes on my phone when I was 16 and my mom was trying to look through my pics so I screamed at her and took it from her, and she got mad, so I decided to come out instead and told her I had bisexual pride flags and stuff and didn't want her to know yet. She brought me cheesecake to apologize.... Oops. Sorry mom. MickeyBear
Be Blunt.
GiphyWhen I was 15 my parents found out by going through my messages that I used to smoke weed... So they got angry. But I got angry for going through my messages... Apparently I won that fight, because after that I could just talk to them about the amount I smoked like it was a normal conversation, and they never went through my messages again. rnottaken
Betrayal!!
Not a parent, but my mother once found a notebook (on my DSI, in 5th grade,) explaining in detail how I want to do some guy or something.
Worst part: I didn't write it. It was planted there by my ex-best-friend to get me in trouble. She admitted it to me. Hell, she even had a crush on the guy. My mom never believed me when I said I didn't write it. _Fengo
Mom's Secrets.
Went through a parent's phone... while staying with family, their rental unit's furnace shat the bed. My mom had absentmindedly left her phone on the kitchen counter when running to the store- it rang but I missed the call she was waiting for (from my dad.) Thinking I was getting instructions for when the HVAC appointment was, I opened a text and a voicemail.
Couldn't distinguish the first sentence but all I heard at the end was "blah blah blah heaters getting fixed. That mean I get some muff?"
I cried with laughter and never admitted to anyone what I'd heard. doublepulse
Apple ID....
When I first got my phone my whole family shared an Apple ID account. This allowed us to share purchases off apps or music and game progression wouldn't carry over unless we wanted it to. Normally the worst thing about it was whenever they changed the password I would need it again so I could download any apps. One weird thing about it though was that when you pressed the home button twice, it would show you what other devices were doing.
Usually it was harmless, my sister would be playing a game or my mom would be on Facebook. But once it showed my dad watching porn. I never told anyone in my family that I saw that but I soon after made a new Apple ID and switched over to it citing the password issue. I never listened to iTunes anyways so I didn't lose anything. Voop1121
NOOO!!!!
GiphyI was going through my son's phone to find something (he asked me to) and saw he had been reading a Fox News article. RealityJaunt
It's Cool.
I feel like going through your kids phone is fine, but it kinda just depends on the child, their age, their maturity and past behavior. Like I will never understand the parents who go through their kids phones like all the time for no reason. -UN-KNOWN-
These Gestures Are Offensive In Other Countries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
People explain the friendly gestures in one country that are offensive in another. It's imperative to do a little research about the destinations and culture...14 and Stupid....
GiphyNot a parent but me. When I was about 14, I chatted with an older woman (older being early 20s) online who turned out to live extremely close to me. We exchanged a lot of pics & messages (stuff no parent would want to see of their teenage son) and agreed to meet up. But I left my phone in my mom's bedroom to charge and she discovered everything. In hindsight, it was incredibly stupid, but being a horny teenager I really didn't consider the risk. Probably dodged a bullet. But yeah, I bet she wishes she didn't see my penis pics. Reddit
"make sure to put that stuff away"
Back when I was a freshman in high school and the world wasn't full of kids with cell phones (it was just starting as this was 2001), this meant that we got our jollies other ways. As a budding writer, I took a shine to writing my own smut stories.
One in particular was rather colorful and I left it on my desk one night after writing it. Forgot about it and the next day, went to school.
A storm hit during that day, lots of rain and wind, and my windows were open in my room so during the day, my Ma ran in to close the windows and found a bunch of papers scattered across the floor. Yep, it was my story. hahahaha.
Ma gave me a brief suggestion to "make sure to put that stuff away" as my younger sister was known to go in my room and rifle through my stuff on the daily (usually to bring the Playstation into her room). Ma avoided eye contact the whole time. I elected to not be hungry when it was dinner time that night haha. mangledmatters
She is 11 years old.
My sister-in-law found on my nieces phone a WhatsApp group where her and her friends were talking about having sex with a corpse.
She is 11 years old. My sister-in-law was actually so concerned about what she saw in this chat she told the school (after speaking at length to my niece about it)
She snitched her own daughter and the other 15-16 kids in the group to the headmaster who absolutely destroyed them, they were in hysterics.
They all pointed the finger at one boy who had posted all these pictures into the group. Last I heard the school were arranging to meet up with his parents. MC1787
Mom is Cray..
When I was 14, I accidentally left my laptop unlocked one day and my mom took that fleeting opportunity to install parental spy software on it. For weeks without me knowing, she was reading literally every myspace message I was sending to my friends and then-girlfriend. It's worth noting that I wasn't doing anything "bad", as in I wasn't smoking, doing drugs, or even drinking at this age. Just random conversations and talking sexual with my gf.
My mom printed out a booklet of "evidence" against me, sat me down, and grounded me for 4 months and forced me to break up with my gf. Obviously this had a horrible impact on my social life during a pretty critical time. I lost loads of friends, and while it's been like 13 years since then and I've since repaired my relationship with my mother, I still don't really forgive her for that. Lpunit
Not Our Stuff...
GiphyWe upgraded my teenage son's phone so he didn't have to deal with the busted speakers on his old one. When the social-distancing kicked in my 4yo was going nuts because she didn't have anything to do so I took his old phone that I had held onto and booted it up. I figured I'd factory reset it and install a bunch of kid friendly stuff for the little one. When it came up it looked like he had already wiped it so I was doing a quick glance to make sure and found a bunch of pictures of him using some of the sex toys his mom and I had hidden away in our closet.
I took this as a good opportunity to talk to him discretely about personal space, respecting other people's boundaries and also some sexual health stuff. He was embarrassed at first, but we ended up bonding over it. I apologized for invading his privacy on the phone and he apologized for invading ours with the toys. basedonfacts
Ironing the Kinks....
The wife found her 16yo sons browser history on the family computer, and it was some really really kinky stuff!! She was mortified as she kept scrolling and her eyes were like saucers! I quelled her fears and told her that it was probably just mostly curiosity, and not to worry. When I talked him about what his mother saw, he turned white as ghost. I didn't make a big deal about it I just told him to be sure next time he uses a private browser or delete the history. genxerbear
Being 13....
My mom went through my phone when I was 13, and found sexual conversations and pics of me in my bra I had been having with a boy (same age) when I was spending too much time on my phone. I thought I was gonna die that night. Not just from getting murdered but embarrassment too. My god. Throwawayuser626
OUTED!!!
my mother was suspicious of me doing drugs and as she was looking through my texts she found a chat with my boyfriend (now husband), as she was reading them in tears I walked in and looked at her knowing exactly what had happened. I didn't plan to come out to my parents at the time. LayOffMyEggs
Opposite.....
Opposite. When my dad got a new phone, I was going through his old phone bc it was about to be mine. Saw a facebook account logged in and it wasn't his name. I opened the messages and it was all conversations with different women. Some didn't reply, some are engaged in a flirtatious manner. Didn't tell anyone but I gave him the cold shoulder for essentially cheating on my mom. It was years ago and I really hope he stopped doing it.
Nobody in my family knows what I knew. 21Units
search history....
GiphyI'm 15, I think the most embarrassing thing my parents could find would be porn on my search history but the most damaging would be finding out about my bisexuality. LIyre
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
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.