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People Reveal The Strangest Things They Did As A Kid

People Reveal The Strangest Things They Did As A Kid
Pixabay

Kids do some pretty strange things as they get used to the way the world works. It takes a while for them to figure out what should and shouldn't go in their mouths, for example.

No two kids are the same, either. Some can't seem to stand wearing clothes, others want to wear all of their clothes at once.


The strange things we did as kids are always good for a laugh (and often a healthy dose of cringe), so why not share?

Reddit user u/jaronnn asked:

"What are some strange things you did as a kid?"

20. Aspiring Artist

For a short time as a four or five year old, I loved taking a blades of grass and making tiny sculptures for the insects.

-SwatchQuatch

19. Time For You Kibble

I would play cat with my little sister. I was roughly 6 or 7 and she was 2 to 3. Anyways, she was the cat and I would always convince her to eat cat food because I thought it was funny. Also, she is extremely smart nowadays and I tell her it's because of this. You're welcome. Lol

-BeanieBabyBoogie

18. Aspiring Necromancer...Or Cleric?

Dad sold medical equipment. We had a gurney and a defib crash cart in the garage. Plenty of play time reviving the dead.

-SharkoJester

17. "The Great Migration"

"The Great Migration". All of my hundreds of plastic dinosaurs would slowly migrate from the family room, through the kitchen, dining room, and front hall into the living room, and back again. Naturally, they were determined to migrate in the middle of the walkway.

-Admiral_Dermond

16. Every Family Needs A Jaguar

​When my Aunt would babysit us, we would play "family", where my sister played a baby (she was like 5) and i would always, without fail, play a Jaguar. Because you know, all functioning households own a Jaguar. So i would meow and beg for pets while crawling atop the couches etc.

-TBurkeulosis

15. Mmm, Charcoal

When I was about 1-2 years old, I apparently used to take of all my clothes. That's not the strange thing. Lots of kids like to run around naked. The strange part is that I would then climb into the fireplace and eat charcoal.

My older siblings all love to remind me of it.

-boysenberryblues

14. A Proper Send Off

I used to hold funerals for dead insects that I would find...

-HoopsMcKenzie

I did that too!

Did you give them names?

-NeedsMoreTuba

13. Just An Enterprising Salesperson

I used to sell Gummy Vitamins to the other kids in school as candy. I got in trouble from the teacher and they were confiscated.

-Unlikely_Substance

12. Animals Are Awesome

When I had alone time I would go for walks in the woods. I loved nature and biology and read a lot if books about different animals. I would go out and try to find some. My family would kill any snake they found on property, we lived on a farm. I would find a snake and help it get to a better place of cover. Edge of the gully or stuff. I had caught every non venomous snake in Arkansas, and several venomous ones. I was kicked out of the cub scouts for catching a copperhead on a hike. I was told I was a liability. Three copperheads and one water moccasin are the venomous ones, the only snake to bite me was an rat snake as it was a full grown adult and very fast.

I have lots of fun stories from being out in nature. I didn't like being around people expect for my Granna and teachers as my direct parents were abusive. Animals and I just seem to get along. I have the fortune of rescuing a hummingbird trapped in our porch. It landed on a stick in my hand and we walked outside the enclosed porch had high ceiling and was basically lost trying to find the exit. Neighbors(about a quarter mile away) shot a mother fox whose pups needed a little longer looking after but were no longer nursing. Granna and I housed them in the old barn until adulthood and they left to find their own territories.

I was swimming once and was underwater(love to be underwater) and and water moccasin was just casually swimming parallel to me about 5 feet away. We had an understanding.

I was 8 and there was caves not far from relatives we were visiting near devils den campground. I went over to the campground and found some biology students that were studying the bats in the caves. I followed them and we got to observe the bats as they connect various photos and bat guano samples. They also explained the dangers that bats carry on then like rabies and the like. They were awesome. I am so fortunate that as a child so many random people were nice to me. I don't know if people could tell a child had a bad home life or they were just kind people. But they gave me a lot of good memories. Didn't plan to shed a tear this morning. I've had a fun life.

-Tedbastion

11. Whatever's Comfy.

I used to hold onto my mother's earlobe for comfort. Wtf. She told me when she noticed I stopped she was relieved and also kinda sad.

-Wackydetective

10. Just Suckin' Rocks

when we had tornado drills in school we would all go into the new tornado shelter under the cafeteria. It was dark and had really encrusted limestone gravel. I'd suck on the rocks because I liked the taste of the limestone dust/concretions. It was a rare event because we didn't have a lot of tornado drills.

Suckin rocks in the dark surrounded by hundreds of kids.

-dirtymoney

09. Wear All The Clothes

I used to put on somewhere between 5-10 pairs of shorts and go visit an elderly couple that lived a few houses down. Upon arriving, I'd get them to guess how many pairs they thought I was wearing. Then I took each pair off one-by-one (except for the last) to reveal the final count. They usually gave me powdered donuts afterwards. Then I'd be on my way.

-WilliamBullock0

8. Stuck On Repeat

For whatever reason, I always used to repeat things immediately after I said them but in a whisper.

"I'll have chicken tenders!"

I'll have chicken tenders

Years later, even my mom said it was really creepy.

-lacriox_daddy

7. Friendly Neighborhood Orb

You know how light reflects on the tile floor to create a glowing orb? I used to be best friends with that little guy till about 5th grade. When I'd see him in the school auditorium or in class I distinctly remember whispering "Hey buddy" or something like that. I kind of miss the times where you could just personify inanimate nonsense. I miss my light buddy.

-ObLaDi

6. Never Alone

I used to sleep with every single one of my plush toys on either side of me. Logically i would have to turn sides midnight so those on my back wouldn't get offended.

-chinchuberry

I did this too, but they also had specific assigned placement. By morning they would all be strewn all over my bedroom.

-lydmeister

5. Teeth?!

My sister and I pretended to be teeth.

-wernickeysayswhat

Please give us more details. I can't stand the suspense.

-Missat0mic0mbs

We pretended that we lived in the mouth of a boy named Johnny. Basically, we'd wrap a thick blanket around our legs (to represent the gums), and shout with excitement when Johnny brushed his teeth or drank milk, or scream in horror when he ate chocolate or other sugary foods.

No idea how this started. There are no dentists in our family...

-wernickeysayswhat

4. Lucky That's Over

My mom told me I had a habit of lowering my pants in public. Just for the kicks of flashing my weenie I guess

I'm glad I have dropped that by now

-CHEESE_BASTARD

Which? The habit or your pants?

-JesusIsMyZoloft

3. Just A Little B&E

I used to break into my neighbours homes when I was 7 or 8 maybe. Never stole anything of value, just wandered around. Had a neighbour who had a massive house but didn't appear to live there. The stairs leading from the parking pad into the home was just surrounded by bars, I was able to squeeze through the bars to enter the home. A few other neighbours didn't lock their doors. I remember one instance of being in someone's home and walking around and found a box of cookies on the kitchen counter. They were sprinkle cookies, very delicious. I remember being upstairs and I heard someone in the shower. They came out before I could get down the stairs. I spent a long time trying to escape unseen.

-zoomie12

2. The Stink Is Real

I'm the 2nd of 4 kids in a military family.

When I was still a preschooler, one day, my mother notices I stink. Not dirty, not sweaty, but full on rolled in garbage stink.

So I get yelled at for playing in the garbage and bathed and made to put on new clothes and a little while later I stink again.

So I get yelled at and bathed and made to put on new clothes and a little while later I stink again.

This went on until my mother had (the first of many) mini nervous breakdowns.

She took me to the doctor. She was crying and sobbing and explained the insanity of what was going on and begged him to find out what was wrong ... because even then I stank like garbage.

It took him a few minutes but he did sort it out.

I had been taking small bits of white bread from my sandwiches, rolling them into little balls and shoving them up my nose.

My sinuses were full of rotting bread.

He pulled out as much as he could, I sneezed out the rest over a couple of days and then I stopped stinking.

Side Note : I have no memory of this, only my mother telling the story every chance she gets.

-jeffohrt

1. Next Best Thing

There was moment in time where I carried around a porcelain cat statue in a basket because my friend had a stuffed animal cat and I didn't yet, so I found the next best thing.

-sunset_cruiserr

What was your strangest habit as a kid?

People Who Actually Died And Were Revived Share Their Experiences

"Reddit user AlaskaStiletto asked: 'Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?'"

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.

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.