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Parents Who Regret The Name They Gave Their Child Explain Why

Parents Who Regret The Name They Gave Their Child Explain Why
Photo by Adele Morris on Unsplash

Let's get this out of the way:

If you find yourself relating to any of the people below, maybe consider calling your child by their middle names?


Reddit user, u/dani4715, wanted to hear:

Parents of reddit, have you ever regretted what you named your child? If so, why?

Not HER! 

My mom regrets my name. They thought I was going to be a boy, and had a boy's name picked out. I arrived, very much not a boy, after 12 hours of labor and no epidural (sorry, Mom). She told my dad to just pick a name, so he named me after his sister, Karen. My mom and my aunt don't like each other. At all.

Dad did not get naming privileges for my siblings, and Mom made sure to pick one name for each gender well before they arrived.

jemmo_

A Spell Upon You.

Melissa Joan Hart Witch GIFGiphy

Hi, the child here. My birth mom named me Sabrina, after her favorite tv show, Sabrina the teenage witch. You can bet that when a certain someone from my middle school that for some reason absolutely hates me found out, he started calling me "Sabrina the teenage B." I don't go by Sabrina at all, by the way.

CalleahWinters

Slippery....

unimpressed viola davis GIFGiphy

I knew an Analeze once, and when she was 8, they realized that the unique spelling of her name was a popular personal lubricant.

Froggetpwagain

Almost....

I was almost named Luke Sky.

One guess as what my last name is.

I honestly probably wouldn't have minded much, I already took on a lot of flak in school anyway.

vbcnxm_

1+1= No. 

My name is Jessica, which is the name my dad wanted. Mom wanted to name me Clarissa. I was born early and they hadn't settled on a name, a nurse suggested combining them... the seriously considered naming me Clarissica. They had even decided my nickname would be Rissy. I am so glad Mom decided Jessica was fine, I never would have forgiven them.

Jessilee113

EVERYONE!

For this reason I never told my kids names beforehand. EVERYONE, barring my hubs and self, found out the name at birth. All this much to the chagrin of our mothers, and especially after my MIL suggested Verna Louise if our 2nd was a girl. Over my cold dead body would a daughter of mine been named "Verna Lou".

trueblue533

Thomas.

james blake inbetweeners GIFGiphy

My dad regrets my name. He wishes he had named me after his father. When my parents had me both his younger brothers were engaged, so he figured they'll probably have sons and name him after their dad. Well one had two sons and the other had one. None of them need after my grandfather. My dad regrets picking the name he preferred and has said, "If I could go back in time, I would name you Thomas."

From the Greek Word....

My friend's name is Sepfora, and she was named that before the popular make up company Sephora got big. It's the greek version of the biblical name Zipporah (Moses's wife).

sirthisisreddit

Quick Google search: Sephora gets its name from a blend of two words. The first is the Greek word "sephos," which means "pretty," and the second is the name "Zipporah" who, according to the Bible, was the wife of Moses known for her beauty.

mexicock1

Hey J....

As far as I know, my parents don't regret my name, but it's an odd situation... I was their first born, and my dad wanted me to be named Jerry, after himself. But we have 7 other Jerrys in my family... So they named me Jerry, but they decided, from birth, that I would go by Caleb (my middle name). I don't mind, because I don't like the name Jerry. But it makes things confusing at work, cause I don't like to explain to everyone that I prefer to go by my middle name... So I usually just go by my first name at work.

synchronoussavagery

How Royal...

Not me but my SO teaches two sisters named Princess with their middle name as the differentiator. If they haven't regretted it they will when both 'Princesses' grow up........... I hope (gulp).

LaUNCHandSmASH

'new kid'

There used to be 7 kids named 'Ayden' in my grade but all were spelled differently, or had different last names, until an 8th Ayden showed up with the same last name and spelling as another kid in the same grade. We called him 'new kid' for the rest of the year. moonfishrin

Be Super....

man of steel superman GIFGiphy

I always let my kids name themselves when they turn five. Some people complain, but I can tell you that my son Superman is doing fantastically.

ElderCunningham

Sound it Out. 

I named one of my kids a name that I knew from childhood, but is french. Because I am so used to the name it didn't occur to me that everyone is going to mispronounce it for the rest of their life.

Magsi_n

I understand that you name is a pain because English mouths cant work it; but on paper at least it look amazingly awesome.

mikey_weasel

Several Spellings.

Didn't anticipate spelling her name every single time you need an appointment, prescription. It's a strange but known spelling of a common name. Used it television, fashion, and an author with it.

Like Cierra for Sierra kind of difference.

I was also unaware of how people butcher my now husbands last name (German but short). We weren't married at the time. So this kid has to spell out her first And last names every single time usually twice.

She just starts spelling now vs saying then spelling bc people still get it wrong.

Trashbat8

She REFUSES!!!

i hope no one who knows me happens to be scrolling this sub... my mother absolutely REFUSES to call me by my name, and has my (22f) entire life. she named my older brother, so she let my dad name me, despite her so badly wanting to name me "laramie" (gag). my dad named me alexandria. i don't like it, and i hate being called alex which literally everyone does no matter how much i insist on alexandria. but its better than what my mom wanted to name me, and calls me.

My mother hates my name so much, and is so pissed she didn't get to name me, that she refuses to call me by my name. so instead, she came up with a nickname for me that she's called me since i was an infant: buddha. not my real name, not a shortened version of my name, not my middle name, not my initials, not a bearable nickname, not even the name she wanted for me, but fucking buddha!? BECAUSE THATS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALEXANDRIA!? to add insult to injury, i was a very overweight child with a large protruding stomach. her yelling "BUDDHA!!" in the grocery store was always a mortifying experience.

She got "buddha" from calling me "beautiful baby" in a baby talk voice. so she would say it like "boo da ful baby" and it got shortened to "boo da" very fast. but of course when you see a mom calling her fat ass kid "buddha" the last thing you think is "oh, well thats CLEARLY short for beautiful!" no amount of begging or pleading (even as an adult) has made my mother stop calling me "buddha", she will not use my actual name. its kind of ridiculous and annoying and upsetting, but i realize theres no winning. i am forever "buddha" smh.

i think i have name dysphoria.

glamericanbeauty

18 and the change. 

I had a very weird first name, that was also extremely close to my mom's name, and a very common middle name. My mom wanted my middle name to be my first name. She's told me many times she regrets that it wasn't.

At age 11 I decided to go by a nickname for my middle name. At 18 I legally changed my name to what had been my middle name.

Wish mom had argued harder for it to be my first name; would've saved me an argument with the person reading names at my high school graduation, among other things.

lizardgal10

Name Boom. 

Yup. Named him, literally rolled out of the operating room and a nurse said she just named her kid that name. It damn exploded and now it's everywhere. My first name was the most common the year I was born and I hated it and never wanted that for my kids. My maiden name was 13 letters and can barely be pronounced so didn't want to go that route either. Easy to spell, easy to say, not common that was all I asked. And I failed.

jkaugs

LOLOLOL

Mothers Day Lol GIF by reactionseditorGiphy

Before my son was born, my husband and I were having a lot of problems picking boys names. Everyone in my husband's family has two middle names so that made it a lot harder.

After a few days, we landed on a name we loved. Harrison Atlas Henry Ames.

After a few hours of blissful happiness, I stopped dead in my tracks, telling my husband we can't name our son that.

His initials would've been HAHA.

ManicLittlefoot

Oh Schmidt!

When my sons were born we deliberately chose names that were rather common and were not family names on either side. So they were unique in our families but pretty normal in life. My mom named me after two biblical names but didn't think about the order leading to a life time of renditions of Jingleheimer Schmidt.

MerkNZorg

The Ex's Idea. 

My ex and I couldn't agree on names, so he picked boy names, and I picked girl names. He named our son after his role-play character. I wanted to make him something normal like "Michael". This is reddit, so I'm not going to say the actual name, but it would be like naming your child "Agamemnon". Poor kid got teased for his name all through school.

Spice_it_up

Ava for short.

My family comes from Africa, but I was born in America.

When I was born, my mom wanted to give me an American name, so she chose Ava, but my dad wanted to be traditional and give me a traditional name. but they ended up using Ava for my middle name. in my opinion, it's a great name, I have a lot of nicknames. but whenever we had a sub in a class all my friends would (and still do) look me dead in the eyes and just keep whispering, "their gonna mispronounce your name-" and life forget it--it is not like it's been happening since kindergarten- When my brother's birth was the same. Mom wanted him to be named Aiden, dad disagreed, got a traditional name, got Aiden as his middle name.

ThatGayJuiceBox

Decades Later.

facepalm smh GIFGiphy

I think my parents do, they named me after a guy who was my dad's best friend at the time. A year or two later they had a huge falling out and 30+ years later haven't spoken since.

gwsteve43

Smarter as you go....

So when my son was born I was allowed to pick his first name. Our last name is Barrett, so I picked Grinin. Because then his name would be Grinin Barrett.

His name is Eric.

For my second son, my wife was smarter. She let me chose the middle name, figuring hey, almost nobody knows anyone's middle name. If it's a disaster then it's easily hidden.

I chose Romeo. I figured that when he was a teenager it might come in handy. "Hey baby, my middle name is Romeo".

His middle name is Samuel.

Oh well, at least they got to keep the last name.

KnowanUKnow

Ask Judge Judy. 

I named my daughter a pretty ordinary but nice name. When I got involved with the woman i am married to now, her daughter who was very little started calling my daughter something else. It stuck and not long later she went to court and changed her name. She ditched her first middle and last names and got a new first and last name without a middle name.

warningfromfuture

Too Young to Know. 

Before I was born, my older brother helped our mom and dad pick my name. I wish it could've ended there but my dad decided he liked a different, longer version of my name and continues to call me by this name to this day.

My mom and dad divorced when I was young, so to one side of my family I'm the name on my birth certificate but to my dad's side of my family, I'm something else even though it's still virtually the same name. To this day I think my dad did it as some weird kind of power play.

BlackMargrave

Whateves...

fanning jack mcfarland GIF by Will & GraceGiphy

I'm having a baby boy tomorrow and we are calling him Jack. Not because either of us like the name, it's just the only one we both don't hate. Can't agree on anything else. I never thought I'd have a kid called Jack but here we are.

Hotfuzz82

The "Prophet"

My ex wife and I named our son Ammon after a "prophet" in the Book Of Mormon who, as myth has it, among other things, cuts off several arms of his enemies in a fight. That was 19 years ago. Ammon and I left the Mormon church 2.5 years ago after several months of in-depth research into the history of the church etc. I keep wondering if he will want to change his name bc of what it represents. To us and to everyone who knows him, and I'm sure to himself, he is Ammon ... but I hope he one day decides it's worth it to make a change.

golfmogul

36 generations

The first born son in my husband's line is always named John or James. With A as the middle initial. I don't like the name James so my son is John. I always wanted to name my son Sebastian Xavier but I couldn't argue with 36 generations of tradition. My second child is a girl and I wanted to name her after my mother but my mom doesn't like her name. I used it as a middle name instead. I do kind of regret not putting my foot down, especially with my second child but her first name suits her personality so it worked out.

jadeursa

Poor Kit. 

My brother has some regret that my Mum chose the nickname Kit for him as he was named Christopher after our father, who already went by Chris. My brother chose to go by Chris himself with his friends once he reached his teens but remains Kit to close family only because that's what we've always called him.

He was very badly bullied growing up and kids will seize on anything they can.

Kit is a very old, very romantic choice of nickname for Christopher, dating back to Elizabethan times. Unfortunately it also rhymes with a vast array of insults. You can start with twit and just keep working your way up from there.

Kit Harington's fame as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones may have made it popular again but I would advise caution. He comes from a very privileged background where it wouldn't have stood out so much.

EmmaInFrance

be original....

frustrated jake johnson GIFGiphy

Yes. Gave him the first name as his dad. It's caused problems flying, scheduling dentist appointments,pharmacy confusion, etc.

Frozen_Twinkies

The Process. 

My daughter was supposed to be a boy. So the name was going to be my father's name, my two middle names and last name. My one middle name is my one grandfather's first name and the other is my father's middle name and his father's middle name.

We barely went over girls names by the time we learned she was to be a boy. My wife had only a couple names picked that I hadn't vetoed for being exes or porn stars. So when we saw the specialist again and he asked us if we wanted to know the sex... we said we already knew. From him. But nope. It's a girl. Plain as day. So then we were stuck.

My wife suggested Aurora and I liked it. Unique. Etc. My wife likes Disney movies. I had no clue that's Sleeping Beauty. I didn't find that out until after she was born. But my daughter loves her name and it fits her perfectly. And she knows she's my princess.

Sykfootball

Why Parents? Why?

I regret them naming me Hamish because I have a gap in my front teeth so when I tell people my name it tends to get muddled but I don't have a speech impediment, So I would say my name is Hamish. But they would say oh hi danish or shamus, it gets very annoying when I need to tell very formal people because I'm very shy and don't like correcting people.

sky-punch

Sorry Dad.

Well, as a Caitlin, I've just started spelling my name to people instead of saying it. Everyone tries to spell it Kaitlyn. Everyone.

My dad wanted to name me after Picabo Street and he wanted to name my sister after Kristi Yamaguchi, but my mom put a stop to that. Guess he had a thing for olympians?

acecatmom98

Authenticity.

My Body Is Ready Mj Rodriguez GIF by Pose FXGiphy

Hell yeah I regret it!

My son was assigned female at birth. My ex husband gave him a girly name, because most people who are assigned female at birth are actually female.

Nope! Not our son, he's trans. Really wish I would have known that and given him a name that would work for either gender, because legal name changes are a pain in the butt.

insertcaffeine

Pre-Internet. 

I named my daughter after a lot of thought and research (pre internet) because i wanted her to have a nice name but not an overly popular one. Two weeks after naming her there were two other girls with the same name announced in our mid size town paper, it became one of the most popular names for a few years in the country. so I regret not waiting to name her because i had other options.

erillee

Almost.

When I was pregnant with my third child, I knew he was a boy. All my life, I'd loved the name Gabriel and I was set on that name. I even called the baby Gabriel when I talked to him.

That is until, when I was 7 months pregnant, my family and I got together with my sister and her family (she had just relocated close enough we could visit).

She, of course, asked about names and I told her his name was Gabriel. She paused and asked about Nick names, would I use Gabe. Now, this is my sister; we're Irish twins. She knew I had an aversion to nicknames (having never had one when everyone else in the family did - and I do mean everyone) so I told her, unequivocally, no. He would not be called Gabe.

She said I might not call him Gabe, but surely someone would and maybe he would even choose it over Gabriel as he got older. Again, I said, no way.

She said, you might want to think about that because someone is going to call him Gabe at some point...

And your last name is Lowe (phonetically low).

So, yeah. Almost regretted that.

omega12596

Warmed Up.

Thumbs Reaction GIFGiphy

I didn't like our youngest son's name for about 6 months but now I can't imagine him being called anything else.

yellowpowerranger87

World of Warcraft Issues

Yes. And as soon as the divorce is over, my son is getting his name changed, and not just because he is trans.

Before my ex wife became pregnant, the two of us ran a large World of Warcraft guild. We had a close knit group of leaders that did various things. Our DPS Trainer became pregnant right around the same time as my ex. They bonded virtually during the pregnancy.

You can see where this is going. My wife absolutely had to have him named after the DPS Trainer's in game name. It's a very unique name that no one can pronounce right the first time. My son has always hated it. He goes by a nickname of his own choice now that has nothing to do with his dead-name.

SingleDadGamer

She Gone. 

My daughter shares her middle name with her mother who turned out to be an awful mother/person and is no longer a part of our lives.

votejonforgod

A Unique Fail. 

Not the name itself, but the spelling of it. When my son was born I decided I wanted his name to be a bit more unique, so I replaced a vowel with a y (e.g. Jason to Jasyn - not his real name)

When he was adopted later on, his parents changed it back to the proper spelling and I'm so glad, because I'd never thought about how much of a pain it would have been for him spelling his name out his whole life.

Not to mention that when people see names spelt like that, they usually automatically presume the person to be a bit, well, lower class.

I still feel awful that I could have made his life infinitely harder just because I wanted to be unique, but at least it was fixed before he learnt to write.

tigerjess

BOOM, Winner.

Giphy

I named my daughter Karen.

Thanks, Internet.

WreckNRepeat

Let's Get The Obvious Out Of The Way

Giphy

I'm just here to see how many "Khaleesi" posts there are.

jahvidsanders44

The amount of friends that I have who named their kids after GoT characters is just too high...

GLaDOs18

How Could You Predict Something Like This?

Isis. Back when it was just an Egyptian Goddess (7 years ago).

We don't yell her name out in public anymore.

JayeAus

You Can Do That?

Well, I had my first son and named him Walter Jr. But then I had my second son and he better exemplified the Walter name so I named him Walter Jr and switched the first son to Andrew, which I found in a baby name book.

shelloshelloshello

When You Don't Live Up To Your Expectations

We gave my son the middle name of "Danger" thinking it would be cool when he was a high school QB, or make him look cool at college parties. But now that he's a teenager I think it's safe to say that if my son ever even attends a football game it will be because he's playing the Tuba there (not that there is anything wrong with that but probably wouldn't associate the middle name danger for someone on marching band).

bzzltyr

Old Wounds Built In Our Roots

I dont mind my sons name but I regret that I didn't stand my ground and insist that his middle name be my great grandpa's name. I really wanted to honour my opa who was a big part of my life and my ex insisted it was "too German" and insisted he have a "good Irish name" and "allowed" my alternative.

My ex is like a quarter irish through his grandma that he never met, meanwhile my German dad literally didn't speak English til he was 7 and my mom is German and I grew up in a household where German was spoken too but go off i guess.

Catezero

In Today's Racially Charged Climate, This One Certainly Turns Some Heads

Giphy

Well I don't think they regret it or care but my name is Latina and I'm black. I always get asked about it and have to explain that it was completely arbitrary and I speak no Spanish

rainrain_throwaway11

Dodged A Hairy Bullet There

My parents couldn't agree on a name, so they agreed that my dad would get to name me if I was a boy, and my mom would name me if I was a girl. My dad, in all his greatness, settled on Wolfman Jack. Yeah, thank god I was born a girl. Thanks, mom.

Allxon

Yeesh...Gross

We were going to name our daughter Milena, but then I told my OB/GYN father what our decision was for the name. I kid you not, but he said "That is a terrible name. You will regret it. It is very close to the medical term melena, and that means bloody tarry stools. You don't want me to link her name with poop for her whole life, do you?"

So needless to say, Milena was out.

roundmusic22

Whoa, Sounds Like There's Some Big Issues There

Before I was born, my dad wanted to name me Harley after his favorite bike, but my mom insisted that I needed a Bible name. At age 4 I chose a nickname for myself because I couldn't pronounce this Bible name, but then as a teen I questioned my younger self's choice and explored new nicknames, including Harley.

When I brought this idea to my dad thinking he'd be pleased, he got red in the face and said "I had to sell that bike to put you in school! It's nothing to me now, just a random chunk of metal. You want to be named after a random chunk of metal? Fine! I'll call you Crankshaft how about that!" And he did, for like 2 years. I don't know where the regret is in that story, but it's somewhere.

ENEBZILE

How Could You Have Possibly Known?

My wife and I don't like all the family politics of naming the children. Someone's going to get bent out of shape because one family member got used and not another. So, we racked our brains to agree on a name not used on either side of the family.

Didn't announce the name until the birth. Neither my mother or father said anything for a year. Then, one day they casually mentioned the name of my uncle's first son that I wasn't even aware of. He had died at only 6 weeks old, 15 years before I was born.

I don't know that I regret the name of my son. But, it would have been crossed off the list of contenders had I known.

rhymes_with_chicken

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People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

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.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

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.