A story on the creepiest things children have ever told their parents, based on a thread in an online parenting forum overseas, has prompted Kiwis to share their own horror stories involving their offspring. Some are downright scary - some are hilarious.
"My kid made a grave sign in the garden... I thought for a fish or pretend or whatever, but no. [It] had the same name as someone who took their life in our home... before we moved there," Herald reader Theresa wrote on Facebook.
Another Kiwi reader shared a story where she was the creepy child: "When I was 3 or 4 i went into the kitchen and told dad that Nana (his mum) sent a letter for him today. Dad called Nana and she said she had indeed sent a letter. When asked how I knew, I said I had been talking to grandad (he died before I was born). After asking where he was I took them to one of the pictures he'd painted that was hanging on the wall," Tori shared.
There was also a frightening story involving twins, shared by Cheryl:
"I had twins and, at the age of 3, one had an imaginrey friend called Tina, I didn't quite know how to handle so I went along with it. One night at the dinner table my husband looked at the empty seat and asked twin 1 'where did your Tina come from?' Twin 1 replied, 'mummy's tummy silly she used to tickle me in there'. Well I dropped the dinner plate I was carrying on the floor in fright, you see I hadn't told the twins at that stage that there was a very very high possibility they were triplets but I may have lost one at 14weeks! We did let them know at the age of 10. It still makes the hairs on my arms stand when I tell this story."
Amy shared the time her 4-year-old son seemed to remember a life event that happened long before he came along.
"I took my 4 year old son to the botanical gardens & once we got there he said to me 'oh yeah I've been here before.. This is where Nanny and Poppy got married, I remember. But I was an old man then' - My parents did get married there & I hadn't mentioned it to him beforehand."
Recall of dead people wasn't an uncommon theme: "Gosh I remember when my oldest was 2 and we moved into a house and took with us a rocking chair that belonged to her great grandmother that passed away a couple years before she was born anyway she was laughing 1 day and talking so I asked her who she was talking to and she pulled out a picture of her great grandmother who she never met!!! Totally freaked me out for sure"
Amanda shared the time she chased away the creepy creature scaring her son:
"When my son was around 2 he used to wake up crying in the night about a lady in the hallway outside his room. Eventually i had enough and stood in the hallway saying 'whoever you are you can stay here but leave my kids alone'. I felt dumb doing it but from that night on he slept better than ever before. He didnt hear me doing this either as he was at the other end of the house crying with his dad."
Damon recalls the time he ran into his 4-year-old daughter's room and says he witnessed something straight out of horror movies:
"Room was ice cold, she was being pushed into the bed, violently jerked up into sitting position, thrown back down, then manhandled by something I couldn't see. Hardout like a horror movie... After I grabbed her she was screaming 'it's in the corner' This wasn't a "one off" incident and I went through this for 22 years myself."
Kylie said: "My daughter was two and put 50c pieces on her dolls eyes whilst it was laid out on a blanket. When I asked what she was doing she explained her doll died and needed money. This is an old tradition to pay the ferryman. Very creepy."
For the full thread, head to the NZ Herald Facebook page.
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