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The Strangest 'Past Life Memories' Kids Have Ever Uttered According To Their Parents

Kids truly say the darnedest things. But sometimes they say the spookiest and most unexplainable things, too.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Reddit community was full of such horror story fodder.


Once upon a time, Redditor TapiocaTuesday asked:

"Parents, what spooky 'past life' memory did your kid utter?"

And the responses were absolutely chilling.

War Stories

"My daughter (age 2) is absolutely terrified of the sound of planes. She’s never been in one, but she is just really scared of the sound."

"Usually, she will hear one and come running and hide between my legs. One night a few months ago, though, she heard a plane, stopped playing, and just said to herself, 'They’re here.'"

" A couple of weeks later, she told my husband it was 'time to storm the beach.' This kid has never been to a beach."

- okaykoala

"My family and I were driving through the Kent countryside and my brother (about three at the time) announced: 'Mummy, that was the field I died in once. A bayonet went through my tummy.'"

" I was eight and remember wondering what a bayonet was EXACTLY at the same time my parents looked at each other and asked him HOW he knew what bayonet was."

"He said he didn't know and then became almost embarrassed and shy because of our collective reactions."

"There was no way he would have known about war or weapons as this was the early 90s and we didn't watch TV much at all. I'm a complete skeptic but this creeps me out to this day."

- 16psyche88

"When I was about 4, my family and I were moving house. We went to view this house in a rural village that was right by an airfield that had been very important during WW2, and there were still disused Anderson shelters in the garden and fields behind."

"Apparently the minute I saw them, I ran to my mum, clung to her arm, and asked 'Are there going to be more bombs?' and got really agitated."

"Nobody ever spoke about the war, this was in the 90s, and we didn’t even have a TV. My mum was really spooked by the whole thing."

- lamantchenille

Past Lives

"When my daughter was three, she saw a large ship while we were on vacation at the beach and said, 'That's like the one my parents before you died on.'"

"I said, 'You had other parents before us?'"

"She calmly went on to explain that I shouldn't worry, they were her parents a long time before my husband and I were, but the ship they were on broke apart, and they are still at the bottom of the ocean."

"She then said when her 'before' parents died, she and her sister 'Brinella' (not sure of the spelling) had to be separated because no one could take them both. She said her sister went to live in Australia, but she stayed in Ireland."

"We live in the U.S."

- bipedal-in-five

"When my daughter was about three years old, she would say the word 'Specs' all the time... like constantly."

"I was thinking, 'This is so bizarre. Why would a child randomly start saying this?'"

"Then my wife told me that her grandfather used to work for a company called 'Specs.' The grandfather has been deceased for quite a long time and was never even alive since my daughter was born."

"She used to say things to me all the time like, 'When I was an adult, I used to do xyz...'"

- WinstoNilesRumfoord

"My youngest (4-5) would tell about how warm and 'cozy' she was in my belly, how cold and scary it was to be born, and how the hardest part was that she 'used to know everything' but now she 'doesn’t know anything.'"

"I would give her space to talk. Her frustration at almost being able to remember 'everything' was almost palpable."

- break-in-the-clouds

"When my son was three, he told his mom that he was a cosmonaut the last time he was a grown-up."

"Not an __astro__naut, the Russian version. We're 99% certain he hadn't heard the word before."

- Lone-Paladin

Lost Connections

"My daughter, when she was three, used to talk about her imaginary friend all the time. She said he was big and fun, and spent a lot of time playing with her."

"One day I was scanning old photos and had a photo of my father on my desk and she said, 'Hey, how did you get a photo of my friend?'"

"I instantly got shivers down my spine. My father died in the house about 15 years previously, and she played in a room that used to be his office."

"I cautiously asked her to tell me more about her friend, and without hesitating, she told me he talked funny. The chills stopped me dead in my tracks because my dad was an Aussie who never lost his accent."

- ChappieTime

"In 2006, my best friend Nick was KIA in Iraq. We used to wrestle/fight until one of us submitted. These sessions would start randomly and always be initiated by 'showing your fangs.' This involved pointing your pointer and middle finger down in front of your mouth while growling at the other person."

"A couple of weeks after his death, some family from the other side of the country that we only see every five years or so was visiting."

"My cousin's son who was about 5 and who I never met prior to this visit came over to me. He gave me the fangs and smiled."

"I asked him, 'Where did you learn that?' and he said, 'Your friend says hi' and ran away. I went to my room and cried for a bit."

- Scubapro54

"I am 60 years of age and have never had biological children but am the proud grandfather of several wonderful children (I am the adopted one). My lady and I have been together for 28 years and her children have children now."

"One day my grandaughter, around the age of 4 years old, went to her mother and asked, 'What happened to Pa Pa's babies? There were two of them but they're dead now.'"

"It just so happens that when I was 13 or 14, my girlfriend at the time got pregnant. There was an abortion. My girlfriend always said they were twins... I never really believed her... and never argued the point."

"I think of this a lot now in my old age."

- twoliterdietcoke

"When my daughter was three and starting to talk clearer, she was talking to someone, and concerned, I walked into the bedroom and no one was there. Initially, I thought it was her playing with her toys."

"Days later, the same scenario, but this time, I asked who she was talking to and she replied, 'Your grandma.'"

"I thought she meant my mom who had recently passed, so I showed a picture of her and asked, 'Is this her?'"

"She said, 'No, YOUR grandma.'"

"I found a picture of my grandma and she with a big smile said, 'Yes, her.'"

"I was shocked since I don't have pictures of my grandma displayed and she died in 1991 and my daughter was born in 2015."

- DISDIK

Personal Childhood Memories

"I apparently used to have rather frequent bouts of nightmares back when I was four. And it always began with me screaming the name Sarah, then calling for help loudly (which would wake pretty much everyone in the house up), and ending with me just blubbering out, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' over and over and over again, all the while crying and sobbing."

"When I would wake up in the morning, I'd have no recollection of any of this."

"My parents had no idea what caused it, given that they knew no one named Sarah that I had interacted with, we had no TV or anything of the sort, I hadn't begun going to preschool yet, and didn't know how to read beyond a few simple words. Nothing they did seemed able to stop it either."

"The whole thing went on for a good long while (almost a year) until one day, it just sort of stopped."

"My mom apparently tried asking me once about it, and kid me said something to the effect of, 'Sarah doesn't want to see me cry anymore. So I won't.'"

"I didn't actually know any of this happened until some years back when I got to talking to my parents about how I always found the name Sarah to be beautiful."

- TinyOrbo

"I’m not a parent but I once told my mother, 'I used to be your dad,' when I was a toddler."

"And if that’s not weird enough, he died about nine months before I was born."

- tyedyeleather

"I only have two vivid memories of my preschool years. I remember thinking of specific people that weren't here at the time but I've no idea who ‘they’ are from my memories. I feel like there's so much more to the memory that's just out of reach."

"The first one, I would have been just learning to talk, so maybe 18-24 months? I was standing in our gravel driveway on a hot day with my mom."

"I asked her for some 'wa-wa,' and she told me to say 'waTer.' I asked for 'wa-wa' again, but she told me, 'If you want a drink, you must say ‘waTer.'"

"I distinctly remember the entire exchange and thinking, 'You know what I want, why are you doing this? They said this one was going to be easy.'"

"The next time would have been a year or two later. My older sister excitedly told me, 'Now you get to learn to read!' and again, I distinctly remember thinking, 'No! They promised this time would be easy, but this isn't easy, what is all this?'"

"I remember the feeling of disappointment from each of these moments. I love learning now, but I'm certain when I die, I'll be having a chat with someone about the meaning of ‘easy.’"

- urkillingme

"I don’t remember any of this, but when I was four, we traveled to Ireland to visit my dad's grandparents. We were walking through a shopping area when I started yelling about wanting to see the train and ran into a shop."

"My parents ran in after me as I was going nuts about some train. There was no train, it was a clothing store. The woman working there asked my parents what I was doing as I was just running around frantically."

"I finally yelled, 'The train!' I had found, in the back of the store, a framed newspaper clipping from the 1940s of the front window of this shop when it was a toy store and there was a big model train scene set up."

- fragnoli

Some of these stories are unexplainably spooky, but at the same time, they're fascinating.

Imagine what might be uncovered if some of these Redditors looked back through their family trees or old newspapers.

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.