Kids Can Say The Darndest Things -- To Creep You The Hell Out.

[a35362]

@Nava

…there were four years when I was a teenager during which Dad had this horrible Boss who’d call him home at times when Dad was at work (and the Boss knew it, they were regular work hours)…

Okay, my apologies to everyone for this brief hijack: Why on earth would your dad’s boss do this? What purpose would it serve?

[tumbleddown]

@Koxinga

I remember when we would go to the TV and stereo section of the department store when I was a kid, there was a really obvious aural sensation. I didn’t even think of it so much as a noise, as a sort of high-pitched pressure on my eardrums, if that makes sense. I tried pointing it out to my mother but she had no idea what I was talking about.

I live in a ranch style house, and I can tell if my mother is watching TV in her bedroom, at the back of the house, whenever I come in the door at the front of the house. I can also stand in the kitchen and tell if I left the television on in my office in the basement, even though if I did, I almost certainly paused what I was watching, on the DVR. That high pitched thing.

As elfkin477 pointed out, it’s almost certainly something to do with the tubes. I could also tell if the power went out while we were out of the house by listening for the sound of my computer monitor and then the sound of my original iMac. Now that I have one of the flatscreen iMacs that doesn’t have a CRT, I can no longer tell if it’s on from a distance by discerning for that sound.

[DocCathode]

IIRC the sound is actually made by a flyback transformer.

[Rascal_s_Mom]

I guess this is a hijack, because it’s the opposite of the OP. When I come home, I can tell whether neither son is home, or if there is one, or both, the second I walk in the house. My hunch when neither is home is almost 100% accurate. This is whether their cars are present or not. And I am talking about an 1,800 sq. ft., two story house. There is a vibe in the house, or not. I can feel it the second I step into the mudroom. If anyone has a hypothesis for that, I’d like to hear it.

[Regallag_The_Axe]

@SHAKES

There ain’t nothing creepier than a sleepwalking child. I remember one time I just happen to wake up in the middle of the night. I was startled to see my then 4yo son standing by the bed just staring at his mother with these really creepy wide eyes. He’s not saying anything, just standing there,… and staring. And as if that wasn’t creepy enough, he’s holding this tattered teddy bear in his arms with a missing eye.

When I asked him: “Alex buddy, you alright?” He slowly turns his head, looks at me briefly, then does an about face and proceeds to walk out of the bedroom with out saying a word.

Well, that’s creepy as all fuck.

I did the sleepwalking thing when I was a kid. I recall waking up: on the couch; in my brother’s bed; and outside on the balcony.

[Faruiza]

A good friend of mine’s little brother once went on and on in great detail about “when he was big”. It involved a helicopter accident. shudder
He was four.
Keep the stories coming! I am entertained.

[Der_Trihs]

@Koxinga

I remember when we would go to the TV and stereo section of the department store when I was a kid, there was a really obvious aural sensation. I didn’t even think of it so much as a noise, as a sort of high-pitched pressure on my eardrums, if that makes sense. I tried pointing it out to my mother but she had no idea what I was talking about.

I recall the same thing; I also noticed it in places that used electronic cash registers. I’d usually wander as far away from the things as my parents would let me.

[KneadToKnow]

@elfkin477

CRT monitors and tube TVs make a high pitch sound even when they’re muted, that only a small portion of people seem to be able to hear (I’m one of them, obviously). The LCD versions don’t seem to. So few games of “which monitor is squealing?” these days played by me and one or two other annoyed people while everyone else stares at us and claim that they can’t hear anything. I don’t miss it.

My dad still talks about how I used to make him uneasy when I was little: he said better than 75% of the time that he’d call me in from playing when I was a preschooler, I’d be waiting on the other side of the door, saying I knew it was time to come in. He claims it was at no fixed time of day and I’d even do it when he decided to take me shopping, so that’s what made it odder to him. I don’t remember what made me decide to come in, but I’m sure there were cues he overlooked, like seeing him though the window, or hearing him walk towards the back door. I seriously doubt I was psychic.

I believe the part that makes the sound in question is the flyback transformer, which flatscreens don’t have, as I understand it.

[supergoose]

Hypothesis for “when I was big” stories: Maybe it’s a matter of little kids not understanding that small -> big and never the reverse (barring reincarnation or somesuch). I’m certain they’ve all heard adults say something like, “When I was small…” so kids simply turn it around, using their prodigious imaginations to fill in the details.

(Or maybe that was obvious. If so, I apologize.)

[Regallag_The_Axe]

@Rascal_s_Mom

I guess this is a hijack, because it’s the opposite of the OP. When I come home, I can tell whether neither son is home, or if there is one, or both, the second I walk in the house. My hunch when neither is home is almost 100% accurate. This is whether their cars are present or not. And I am talking about an 1,800 sq. ft., two story house. There is a vibe in the house, or not. I can feel it the second I step into the mudroom. If anyone has a hypothesis for that, I’d like to hear it.

Well, when I was in high school, my mom could always tell if I was home by weather or not there was loud music coming from the vicinity of my room.

[Alessan]

Absolutely. My kid is certain that one day he’ll be the grownup, and we’ll be the children.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

@SHAKES

I remember I used to be able to hear the TV before it would actually turn on or if the sound was all the way down. It was like a really high pitched tone.

I wonder if TVs still make that noise.

But anyway, as to the OP.

There ain’t nothing creepier than a sleepwalking child. I remember one time I just happen to wake up in the middle of the night. I was startled to see my then 4yo son standing by the bed just staring at his mother with these really creepy wide eyes. He’s not saying anything, just standing there,… and staring. And as if that wasn’t creepy enough, he’s holding this tattered teddy bear in his arms with a missing eye.

When I asked him: “Alex buddy, you alright?” He slowly turns his head, looks at me briefly, then does an about face and proceeds to walk out of the bedroom with out saying a word.

Been there.

Did that when I was 11-12, & once ran into the wall. Damaged the wall–never woke up. <baffled>

[Shirley_Ujest]

My friend’s youngest son, for reasons that are unclear, calls his only-child cousin who is the same age as him, " Nelson".

The kid’s name is Brandon, but the minute this revelation came out, it really fit this kid.

We all refer to Brandon as Nelson, behind his back. ( We are all kinda scared of him anyways. He’s 8 and a terror.)

[Alice_The_Goon]

My youngest son used to talk about when he was big, too. Then there’s this story, about a young boy who claims to be a reincarnated WWII pilot. As an atheist, I really don’t believe in any kind of afterlife, but stories like that really creep me out.

[drastic_quench]

@Alice_The_Goon

My youngest son used to talk about when he was big, too. Then there’s this story, about a young boy who claims to be a reincarnated WWII pilot. As an atheist, I really don’t believe in any kind of afterlife, but stories like that really creep me out.

I read that in that case the father was a WWII aviation buff (so the kid grew up around it), and the father ended up hawking a book about this.

[Malleus_Incus_Stapes]

@Rascal_s_Mom

I guess this is a hijack, because it’s the opposite of the OP. When I come home, I can tell whether neither son is home, or if there is one, or both, the second I walk in the house. My hunch when neither is home is almost 100% accurate. This is whether their cars are present or not. And I am talking about an 1,800 sq. ft., two story house. There is a vibe in the house, or not. I can feel it the second I step into the mudroom. If anyone has a hypothesis for that, I’d like to hear it.

Funny, I have something similar with my cats (and occasionally people). It’s not100% accurate, but it can be pretty spooky.

[Alice_The_Goon]

@drastic_quench

I read that in that case the father was a WWII aviation buff (so the kid grew up around it), and the father ended up hawking a book about this.

I wish I knew for sure if it was a hoax or not. If it’s not a hoax, it’s really creepy. If it is a hoax, it was a pretty god one- the kid was not even two years old when it started.

[Grrr]

@Alessan

Absolutely. My kid is certain that one day he’ll be the grownup, and we’ll be the children.

You know they’re actually not too far off the mark there. Are they?

[Sebastienne]

Grown ups can say creepy things too!

Ok, so I’m not legally a kid anymore, but when I spend time with my mom, I often feel that way. We were running errands the other day, and early in the day, I tell her about having gotten a dish at a fancy restaurant that, despite zero indication on the menu, was presented to me aux flambé with blue alcohol flames shooting off it. I said something to the effect of “You’d think they’d tell you in advance that your meal would be on fire.”

Five or so hours later, out of absolutely nowhere, dear old mom remarks “I like it when things are on fire!”

It took me a moment. And no, she’s in no way senile.

[Oy]

As a teenager, I was told by the mother of a friend whom I’d known when I was five or six that when I came to visit their house, the mother had reassured me about the barking dog and I had cheerfully replied, “Oh, I used to bark like that when I was a dog.”

I feel fairly confident that I was never in fact a dog, so I wouldn’t read too much into little kids talking about what happened when they were big.

@pravnik

Mosquito tone. I can’t find the thread where we talked about it, but you can test your hearing here:

http://journal.plasticmind.com/ears/mosquito-tone-or-how-to-tell-youre-a-youngun/

That’s odd. I’m 55 years old and I can hear the 18 Khz sound, although it’s not nearly as loud (to me, at least) as the first sound, which is 11 Khz. That one made me rip the headphones off!