We all did weird things as kids that, looking back, may make us feel embarrassed or generally baffled as to why we did it, but that’s just part of growing up…sort of.
One curious person took to Reddit to uncover what weird things people did as kids that were very strange looking back, by asking, “What things did you do as a kid that you now realize is extremely weird?”
You will find below a collection of the funniest and oddest answers on the thread, some of which are things that you may well have done yourself! Enjoy!
Storing Food In Their Cheeks
“I used to keep the last piece of food I was eating in my mouth even for a hour. For example, if I was eating pizza, the last piece of the last slice would remain in my mouth while I went playing and running around. I stopped at the age of 9, when I almost died of asphyxiation.” —Arancio
The very idea of how mushed up and soggy those bits of food must have been by the time they swallowed them is making me feel physically sick.
Liking The Taste Of Towels
“When I was around 8 years old, I liked the way clean towels tasted. Something I really enjoyed was putting a towel over a straw, and drinking kool-aid through it.
“My mother wasn’t a fan of having white towels covered with red spots, so she put a stop to it pretty quick.” —IrrationallyCalm
I can’t say that I have ever thought that towels had a taste, but then I’ve never tasted one. Now I’m fighting every impulse to go and try this.
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Unauthorized Science Experiments
“I used to have ‘science experiments’ in the bathroom sink. Meaning, I’d go the bathroom and lock the door. Once in I’d make sure the sink drain was shut and then proceed to add every cleaner/ chemical/ shampoo etc under the sink to the sink in hopes of a reaction. Never got one, but it also never stopped me from trying. In hindsight I probably could have killed myself if I had mixed the wrong stuff. I obviously didn’t.” —WilliamHarry
I used to do this as well actually, except I poured my creation into a plastic bottle and left it on my windowsill only for it to leak out and strip all of the paint. My parents were less than pleased.
Pretending To Be A Train
“When I was around 5, I would basically act like a train and follow the lines on the playground whilst also using my hands as those little rail things on the wheels (Coupling rods), I would also look directly up when it was cold and use my mouth as a chimney. Honestly it must have looked like I was insane.” —LargeTubOfLard
The image of this is absolutely hilarious, particularly the bit about him using his mouth as a chimney when it was cold. This kid’s teachers must have had a fair few laughs at this.
Adding Weird Things To Tea
“I would add several drops of Tabasco to my unsweetened iced tea. I called it Asian tea despite knowing Tabasco and Lipton were in no way Asian. I also didn’t like it very much but made myself drink it so that I could understand the Asian community better.
“Asian friends I have now are still baffled at the connection I tried to make.” —catelldm
One equally baffling human being added in response, “When I was seven, on a 5 day field trip, I put salt on apples and convinced my friends this is how Armenians ate them. At that time, I have never met an Armenian, or had a good idea where Armenia was, but for some reason, I insisted that’s how it’s done and that by doing that I’m worldly…”
Eating Lead
“I used to eat mechanical pencil lead. No idea how I got into that habit, but I think I enjoyed the crunchiness of it. Did it for a little while, but showed a classmate and she immediately went to the teacher who then called my mom who scolded me and told me to stop. Goodbye 0.7 mm, you will be missed.” —KtMoonRise
God, why would someone snitch for this and ruin all of their poisonous fun! Way to go, whoever you are, you big snitch!
Giving Mice And Spiders A Weather Report
“There were spiders and mice in my room which totally freaked me out so every night before I went to sleep I’d whisper a report of what the weather was outside to encourage them to go outside rather than stay inside and bite me in my sleep.” —Jimothy-Goldenface
I like to think that they were actually very appreciative of this little weather report! Maybe they would use this to try and plan their little family vacations.
Spinning Around
“Every time I ever turned a full circle for any reason I would always turn a full circle the other way as well to make sure that it was ‘balanced’ because I didn’t want to turn one way more than the other.” —_StaffordBeats
I wonder what they thought would happen if they spun too much in one direction? Do you think that they’d just fall over from not being “balanced”?
Twitching Their Eyes
“When I was a kid, in the 80’s, I had very strict teachers. Any form of back-talking or, god forbid, swearing, would get you a quick slap and a fast march to the head teacher’s office to explain yourself. My teacher once sat me down for ‘A talk’, which was basically her just berating me. In the middle of this she suddenly stopped and told me I needed to keep my eyes under control, because I had this terrible nervous habit of twitching my eyes when she was talking to me.
“In actual fact, I was tracing out imaginary swear words with my eyes. Basically, drawing out things like ‘PISS OFF’ and ‘SHUT UP’, tracing the letters with my eyes as if they were right in front of her face. I didn’t realize she could see my eye movements — I mean, I don’t know why, as an adult it’s obvious that my eyes were darting all over the place and looking crazy, but child me thought that it was subtle enough that it was unnoticeable, and that I was being super sneaky.” —noodhoog
Changing The Names Of Colors
“Purple was my favorite color but I didn’t like the word so I called it murdalop.” —MolinaroK
I think that this one may be my favorite one, just for how truly bizarre it is. I wonder if they had any other names for other colors?
The Secret Sauce
“I mixed ketchup and mustard together and called it my secret sauce. I used it as a dip for Fritos. I was convinced I’d make millions off it.” —DFParker78
I think that loads of kids have a moment like this where they think they have become a culinary genius. Did you have one of those moments? If you’re willing to share your own secret recipes then let me know in the comments below, as I’m incredibly interested as to what some of you came up with!
Eating Food Wrappers
“I ate cupcake wrappers after finishing the cupcakes. Like I would just suck on it (the paper ones) and chew until there was zero flavour, then spit it out.” —DiligentPride2
I never did this, however, we did have one kid in primary school who used to eat the red wax that Babybels come in. I still can’t look at them without thinking about it to this day!
Strange Pets!
“Not me, but my partner used to keep Kiwis (the fruits) as pets. He would name them and take care of them…until his mom took them to blend into a smoothie.
“That was a rude awakening for him.” —spacelordmthrfkr
Pets can be a good way for kids to learn about and come to terms with the concept of death. However, blending up their “pets” is a little harrowing!
Making Bets With Imaginary Friends
“Had an imaginary friend that I would make bets with, that I was guaranteed to win. The prize being ludicrous amounts of imaginary money.
“‘Hey Joe, I bet you 1 figillion septriligon dollars I can hold my breath for 3 seconds’. God I was rich back then…”
One of my favorite things about this one is that they had an imaginary friend called “Joe.” I don’t know why that is so funny to me, but it is! It’s such a strangely normal name for an imaginary friend.
“Extreme Self-Centredness…”
“I would come up with all sorts of supernatural and conspiracy theories to explain the world around me. I thought people were spying on me. If any one laughed outside while I was on the toilet, I’d be convinced that they could see me and were laughing at me. I wouldn’t characterise it as paranoia, it was more like exteme self-centeredness. I had trouble comprehending that there was a world out there that didn’t involve me in any way. This went on until I was about 15 – 16 I think.”
I still can’t imagine a world without me in it, and I don’t care how egotistical that sounds! I’m a goddamn delight to have around, thank you very much!
Making Bizarre Sandwiches
“For much of second grade, for some reason, my parents let me pack my own lunch. I had two sandwiches of choice- one was what I called a triple butter sandwich: peanut butter, apple butter, and butter. A little strange, but okay.
“The other was a lettuce sandwich. White bread, mayo, and a few leaves of iceberg lettuce. I have no idea how they let me eat that for most of a full school year.” —halfbornshadows
The “lettuce sandwich” they describe sounds like something that would be a popular health fad nowadays! Also, if you like me are struggling to understand what “apple butter” is, the they did explain it as such: “Apple butter, to answer the frequent question, is sort of like an apple jam- basically imagine the process for making apple sauce but you cook it down longer and it gets all caramelized and concentrated, it’s great.”
Making Random Sounds To Sound Smart
“Saying some gibberish all the time and thinking that it is probably meaningful in some languages. I felt smart as hell.” —Qizot
While I didn’t do this, one other person replied to this adding, “I used to make random noise and word combinations and get into really weird contorted poses to be ‘the only one to ever do this.'” And I thought that I was the only person who did that!
Eating Tissues
“I used to eat tissues as a kid. My mum found out one day and yelled at me to stop, (as any sane parent would do) so I started eating them in secret. Sneaking away with a tissue box to another room to eat a tissue or two.
“Until one day when I was about 5 years old I had to go to the hospital. I had no idea what was going on all I knew was that I had trouble breathing through my nose. Before my operation I was in the hospital and I overheard one of the nurses say that they just needed to remove the excess tissue in my nose. Naturally I thought that the tissues I had eaten had started getting clogged up in my nose and I never ate a tissue again. I made the realisation at 14 that it was muscle tissue in my nose and not the actual tissues I was eating.” —AutisticArmadillo
You know that your life has taken a strange turn when you are hoarding tissues to eat in secret. That’s a real “I need to reevaluate my life” moment!
Mental Camera Roll
“Blink at things because I thought it would help with my memory. I would imagine my eyes were like cameras and each blink was a shutter click.” —fizzy_eyes
There were actually quite a few people who said that they used to do this, bizarrely enough! One overly cutesy person even added, “I did that with animals, I wanted to safe every animal in my head and I blinked at them while putting the hand to my chest so I would ‘transfer’ them into my heart.”
Washing Lollipops
“Running any lollipop or sucker I ate under the faucet water after every lick because somehow it tasted better after being rinsed.” —eightbitpixie
This was another one where lots of other people said they also did this. Apparently a lot of people liked doing it as the water made the lollipop juicer…which, for some reason, made me feel a little ill.