Weird superpowers

[Terabith]

Do you or any of your family members have bizarre superpowers?  I can identity component ingredients in a dish by smell.  I have a kid who can instantly tell you how many green Kia Souls are in a parking lot and is insanely good at puzzles, despite having virtually no experience with them.  This is not to be confused with enjoying puzzles or having any interest in cars.  Just REALLY good at them. 

[Slache]

I can tell if there's a live person in the room even if they're dead silent and perfectly hidden.

My daughter has a weird one. "How many cards do I have?" "42" "capital of Arizona?" "Phoenix" "8X8?" "64" "Philippians 2:14" "and Hanna prayed-" "nope. Do all things without murmurings and disputings" "oh yeah" "12x4" "48, I have 39 cards" So she can keep track of how many cards she has in her head despite how many she gets wrong and doing math problems in her head at the same time. She's been able to do this since she was four. She's not gifted. She's not special. She just can do this one thing and she does it perfectly every time.

[egao_gakari]

DH used to have a weird thing. I don't know how to describe it except "magic hands." If you were in emotional pain, he could put his hands on your body and identify a physical location where the emotional pain was. Then he would just... leave his hands there for a while, and you would actually start to feel better.

He had back surgery and was on opioids for half a year, and he hasn't had the magic hands since then 😞 He feels like the opioids may have permanently wrecked his ability to form emotional connections with others.

[mmasc]

Mine is being fluent in several kid languages...’toddler’, strep/sore throat, dental- numb-mouth, and a few others I can’t think of right now.😂 My kids are amazed when I can completely understand when one them has one of the above ailments and is speaking in a way that absolutely nobody but me can understand. They’re always like ‘Mom! How can you know what he’s saying?!!’ And I’m like ‘Because I’m fluent in sore throat’ 😆

[Wheres Toto]

My kids are always amazed when they talk with their mouths full of toothpaste or something and I know what they are trying to say even if it was just a bunch of grunts.

I'm very good at finding things.  My oldest lost a necklace once and I found it where it had fallen between the front door and the deck and was sitting in a pile of leaves under the deck.   Just happened to see it through the crack.  

[sweet2ndchance]

4 minutes ago, mmasc said:

Mine is being fluent in several kid languages...’toddler’, strep/sore throat, dental- numb-mouth, and a few others I can’t think of right now.😂 My kids are amazed when I can completely understand when one them has one of the above ailments and is speaking in a way that absolutely nobody but me can understand. They’re always like ‘Mom! How can you know what he’s saying?!!’ And I’m like ‘Because I’m fluent in sore throat’ 😆

I am fluent in most kid languages too, lol. Just please don't tell my kids that I actually do understand Whine-ese. I've been telling them all their lives that I don't understand Whine-ese and that they will have to tell me in their normal voice before I can answer them, lol.

I also seem to be able to smell a soiled diaper or soiled pants if they have an accident within seconds. From across the room. No matter what. Even if it was nothing more than a wet fart. lol

[SKL]

One of my kids is incredibly observant and remembers details I wouldn't ever notice.  If I mention a lady at the conference did xyz she will say "which lady?  What did she look like?" I'll be like "I dunno, I think she was middle aged and wore a suit."  She'll ask "was she the brown-haired lady in green low-heel shoes with silver rimmed glasses and peach nail polish carrying a shiny black purse?"  She also knows how every other kid in class did on every test/assignment.  Even though she herself is academically challenged.  And she is called "ninja" for her ability to sneak up silently.  😛

On the negative side, according to her, she is a disaster magnet.  Don't ever ask her "what could go wrong?"  LOL.  Also she has incredible pain tolerance.

My other kid can do gymnastics with her eyebrows.  Also she can stuff half of a plateful of food into her mouth at once.  (Not a talent I encourage.) 

Kid2 also has everything about Kpop groups memorized.  Though that might not be so unusual for her age group.

[Tap]

DD21 and I often have the same thoughts at the same time. We always figured it was because we spent time together, that the same things triggered the same thoughts.  But she moved away a year ago and we will be talking on the phone and find out that we are making the same thing for dinner, or planned to paint a wall the same color.  One day I was craving a food, that she was eating at the same moment. I don't watch TV, only Netflix (she watches cable). I only listen to Pandora (she has Apple Music). She lives on a military base (not liberal), I live in Portland (very liberal), Oregon.  I shop at stores that she doesn't have in her area.

Something is triggering similar thoughts, we just don't know what it is.

[Chris in VA]

I can tell you what time it is, with 2 or 3 minutes. Just a feeling. I am rarely wrong. 

I have a really sensitive sense of smell, too, which is funny in my family, or should I say, when compared to my husband's; one would think he'd be the person with the best sense of smell, because he has a rather large nose, but nope, poor guy has a terrible sense of smell. 

[Harriet Vane]

I can totally diagnose any fever with my wrist-on-the-forehead accurately within .5. Really and truly. Both my big kids were horribly sick years ago and I took their temperatures every couple hours for days. I made it a game to see if my wrist-guess was accurate to the thermometer, and lo and behold, I nailed it every time. Still do.

[fairfarmhand]

3 minutes ago, Tap said:

DD21 and I often have the same thoughts at the same time. We always figured it was because we spent time together, that the same things triggered the same thoughts.  But she moved away a year ago and we will be talking on the phone and find out that we are making the same thing for dinner, or planned to paint a wall the same color.  One day I was craving a food, that she was eating at the same moment. I don't watch TV, only Netflix (she watches cable). I only listen to Pandora (she has Apple Music). She lives on a military base (not liberal), I live in Portland (very liberal), Oregon.  I shop at stores that she doesn't have in her area.

Something is triggering similar thoughts, we just don't know what it is.

This is me and my second dd. We will make the exact same comments about things. We share the same thoughts and reactions about people. It’s eerie at times. 
 

my super power is smell. I know if there’s an Asian beetle somewhere in the room. I knew there was a dead mouse under the house. I can also find 4 leaf clovers easily.

my 3 rd dd can read my dhs mind. They work very well together. He says “hand me the uhhhhhh.....” and she knows what he wants. The rest of us stand there looking puzzled or annoyed.

[fairfarmhand]

3 minutes ago, Chris in VA said:

I can tell you what time it is, with 2 or 3 minutes. Just a feeling. I am rarely wrong. 

I have a really sensitive sense of smell, too, which is funny in my family, or should I say, when compared to my husband's; one would think he'd be the person with the best sense of smell, because he has a rather large nose, but nope, poor guy has a terrible sense of smell. 

Oh I’m like that about time too! And my dh has ZERO sense of time. Every morning he gets out of the shower and goes “how is it that late! I have to hustle!”

[Chris in VA]

1 minute ago, fairfarmhand said:

Oh I’m like that about time too! And my dh has ZERO sense of time. Every morning he gets out of the shower and goes “how is it that late! I have to hustle!”

Sadly, we are talking two different skills. I am unaware of how fast time is passing, but can label the current time when asked, if that makes any sense. I run late a lot!🤣

[fairfarmhand]

1 minute ago, Chris in VA said:

Sadly, we are talking two different skills. I am unaware of how fast time is passing, but can label the current time when asked, if that makes any sense. I run late a lot!🤣

Aha! Makes sense. I can do Both. I know what time it is and how long I’ve been doing something. My 2nd oldest dd is the same way. My youngest is just like his dad.

[ScoutTN]

1 hour ago, happysmileylady said:

 DD11's super power is less impressive....she's able to make 10 minutes of work take 5 hours lol. 

Ha! My 12 yo has this too! Maybe it's a special preteen power.

[Tanaqui]

The younger kiddo can predict the ending of (almost) any book or tv show after only getting through the first act. Somebody walks on, "Oh, that must be the bad guy". Uh, he's being friendly and mentor-y to the hero! "Yeah, but he's the bad guy!" and then he IS the bad guy.

Though I did manage to get her with The Sixth Sense. That was a major accomplishment.  And there was this one book where the bad guy is eating kittens (cats talk in this book, so it's doubly bad), and I actually told her that and she didn't believe it, it was just too outre. But other than those two cases? She always, always predicts the endings and the plot twists.

I find this super amazing. I can barely get work out the plots to Scooby-Doo. You mean there never was a ghost, it was always the caretaker wearing a mask? Who could ever have predicted that!? (She also can draw. This is also amazing.)

More prosaically, I've always been a little overawed at my ability to play tunes on the piano by ear. I know that's not really such a rare skill, but I have no idea how I do it regardless. I just pick a note to start with and my hands do all the work. And when I first realized I could do that, if anybody I knew could do that they never told me, so it always seemed magical to me. It's very useful if I want to get a song out of my head! Play it and it goes away.

[Paige]

I can disrupt your bluetooth or otherwise mess up your electronics just by being in the room. Nobody can use the bluetooth in the car at all if I'm riding. It won't stay connected if I'm in the car. When I'm gone, it works. If there's more space like you are in the house with me, it will probably take you a few minutes to lose your connection.

 

 

[BusyMom5]

I have a sensitive nose,  I can often smell things no one else in my family can.   If anyone is smoking, I will know it!  If you were in the car of a smoker, I will know it.  I cannot stand perfumes.  

My dad was the same way, I always thought he was ridiculous,  but at about 25, I could smell everything, too!  My siblings do not have my super sniffer, lol.

[HS Mom in NC]

My husband has a super pallet. He can identify ingredients in complex dishes he's never eaten or cooked before and reproduce it at home exactly without a recipe. And weirdly, he can't distinguish between wines. He can also tell you exactly what time it is within about 10 minutes accuracy even being outside all day without any routine to clue him in.

People who know both of us us say my brother and I can read each other's minds. My husband says our conversations sometimes don't include enough details for anyone else to follow, but we completely understand each other and what I call "context" my husband says is a mindmeld. We can also have short "conversations" using only subtle facial expressions. He's an artist and liked to do drawings that looked like one thing at first, but if most people stared for a while they would see it was actually something else entirely, cleverly disguised.  I got them instantly. I remember her calling me into a room  and saying to her friend visiting, "Watch this." Then she held up a picture and said, "What's this?" I replied immediately, that it looked like a large rumpled scarf but it was really a villain draped in a cape.  It had taken them quite a while to see it even after he explained it. Mom said I would know right away. She insists we had our own language in our preschool years-not baby/kid talk, but a language. We're 11 months and 3 days apart in age.

My middle daughter has been a master of the game SET since she was in early elementary school.  She can instantly find them. She can beat the computer in those versions of  Settlers of Catan and Cribbage.

[maize]

36 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

 

By smell?

They smell like luck!

[Garga]

1 hour ago, Chris in VA said:

I can tell you what time it is, with 2 or 3 minutes. Just a feeling. I am rarely wrong. 

I have a really sensitive sense of smell, too, which is funny in my family, or should I say, when compared to my husband's; one would think he'd be the person with the best sense of smell, because he has a rather large nose, but nope, poor guy has a terrible sense of smell. 

 

My dh can do the time thing, too. He gets off by about 8 minutes whenever we change the time in the spring or fall, but after a week or two he’s back to 2 or 3 minutes of accuracy.

I don’t think this superpower is exclusive to me, but I was telling people just  the other day that if I see a silent FB video on my feed, and if there are subtitles on it, I can tell if the speaker has a English, American, or Australian accent by the way they mouth the words.  And I can further tell if the American has a southern accent or not.  (You know how on FB, as you scroll there will be videos that play and they’re silent with subtitles unless you click on them.)

But I think that many people would be able to do this, if they’ve watched enough tv from all three countries.  I’ve watched a lot of British tv and just a bit of Australian, but it seems to be enough to be able to “see” the accents.  I’ve never heard of anyone else doing this, so you guys try it out and see if you can do it, too!

Edited January 31, 2020 by Garga

[PinkTulip]

I have a freakish sense of direction and can get anywhere if I’ve been there before. Even if it was only once, in a different city, and I was a teenager the last time I was there. My husband is constantly trying to get me to follow Google Maps and I never need it. 

I can also smell a lot of unusual things, like temperatures to know if something is hot or cold. 

[Jentrovert]

3 hours ago, Chris in VA said:

I can tell you what time it is, with 2 or 3 minutes. Just a feeling. I am rarely wrong. 

This is my husband's superpower. I can give reasonable guesses by looking at the sun, sometimes, but he always just knows. No sun required.

 

[gaillardia]

My superpowers have not remained strong. I used to be able to tell what country someone was from by the accent. I used to know when I was being lied to by anyone. 

I used to be a raging maniac when thunderstorms were approaching (but I didn't know the weather forecast) and later when I'd start hearing the thunder I'd realize it was probably the barometric pressure working on me. I think we discussed this in a thread years ago here. Is that a superpower or a super inconvenience? I don't think I have this here where I live now.

If a driver got us lost, I could get us out of it. I never got lost when i lived where I used to, even when in a new area or new city. Here I get lost when I'm over in the big cities, always make a wrong turn, something always goes wrong. So, I would say I had an uncanny sense of direction in my home place.

Edited February 3, 2020 by gaillardia

[SKL]

2 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

The younger kiddo can predict the ending of (almost) any book or tv show after only getting through the first act. Somebody walks on, "Oh, that must be the bad guy". Uh, he's being friendly and mentor-y to the hero! "Yeah, but he's the bad guy!" and then he IS the bad guy.

One of mine is like that.  Since she was a preschooler, I'd be reading a story and she'd say "is xyz going to happen?"  And I would honestly say "I don't know how the story ends."  And she was almost always right.  Still today.  A cold stranger appears in a movie and my kid asks, "is he going to marry the heroine?" and yep, an hour later that is his fate.  😛 

[TheReader]

I have a genetically passed down ability to heal astoundingly fast from burns. Or, to not be truly impacted in any way. The burn will still hurt a bit, but beyond some initial redness, nothing. 

Some examples: my dad, as a toddler, put his hands on a hot waffle iron. Went to the hospital, was treated, wounds dressed, told to come back the next day to change the dressings. The next day, the doctors unwrapped his hands and found......nothing. Zero evidence of what had seemed to be pretty bad burns the day before. 

My middle son once had boiling water spilled on him. It hurt, of course, and maybe was a little red at first, but no burn marks, blisters, nothing. 

I've been burned by hot pans, irons, curling irons.....maybe a red mark at the beginning, but nothing lasting. In mine and DS's case, neither of us has ever had to treat a burn with anything other than a little cold water run over the burn. 

My grandma has the same ability, all of her children (my dad, his 3 siblings), all of us (me, my sister, and as far as I know, my 3 cousins), and at least my children and my cousin's children (not sure about my sister's kids, but then again, it's also not something we test on purpose, so....and the other 2 cousins don't have kids yet). 

Sunburns are a different story and do impact us like normal people, but not actual burns. My grandma once contacted.....someone?....to offer the family for genetic testing/study, but they didn't take her up on it. 

 

[TheReader]

8 hours ago, StellaM said:

I sometimes dream things that later happen. 

But not reliably, so it's a bit of a useless superpower.

My dh has had this happen, but then never knows until after the thing happens that it was one of those kind of dreams. But he will sometimes avoid certain things because as it happens, he recognizes something from a dream and it was something negative, so he'll avoid whatever thing it is he recognizes (ex: once he dreamed a son had a wreck & died in a white car; when we went to rent a car, he specifically asked to trade b/c the first car offered was a white car, just in case...). 

[almondbutterandjelly]

My dh can make most electronic devices work just by touching them.  When the tv is being difficult, I ask him to touch the remote control, and voila everything works again.  I am absolutely convinced he has some sort of magical emf power or frequency that instantly resonates with tech.  

My dd recognizes all faces and remembers them forever.  This has caused some hurt feelings until she realized that not everyone has that superpower and does not remember her from meeting her that one time many years ago.  

I find things.  It's what I do.  If I don't find it, it can't be found.

[iamonlyone]

My husband has the superpower finding-lost-things ability in our family.

Our older daughter may have a photographic memory. She says sometimes it is a burden because she doesn't forget things. We moved from one state to another when she was three, and she can remember details about what we ate and when and where we went and where she sat—just all kinds of things. Now, I can say something like, "We have never tried making a jelly roll." And she will say, yes, we did when I was 11, you used x recipe from x curriculum, but it had this issue and turned out tasting like this.

Because of her crazy memory, learning has always been easy for her. Being our firstborn, I carefully took her through a reading curriculum (that incorporated sounding out) when she was four, and I had her do spelling every year through a whole spelling series. Later (and after working with our younger children who did need that teaching) I realized how overkill that was for her! She hadn't needed the sounding out (and found it frustrating) because she could read a word after the first time she knew what it was, and she never missed a spelling word—but I was trying so hard to do it "right"!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I can smell citrus mold about two days before it is visible.  I can tell by the smell of a kid's breath in the morning if they will come down with a fever that day.  

My son draws maps freehand from memory exceptionally well.  

[alisoncooks]

13 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

The younger kiddo can predict the ending of (almost) any book or tv show after only getting through the first act. Somebody walks on, "Oh, that must be the bad guy". Uh, he's being friendly and mentor-y to the hero! "Yeah, but he's the bad guy!" and then he IS the bad guy.

This is me. My family hates it because I also feel compelled to share my predictions, lol. 

[Angie in VA]

Dh says I can make the most uncomfortable situation better by saying something that puts everyone (or more accurately, the person who's hurting the most) at ease. Ironic, since my mouth gets me into so much trouble and causes some uncomfortable situations. I guess it's because I know what people are thinking and just say it.

The most helpful manifestation of this "gift" comes out in situations of pain and suffering, namely grief. Even an aunt told me I made her and her adult ds more comfortable at the side of my mother's deathbed. I took offense to that one, b/c I was there to make sure my mother was comfortable, not anyone else. I wasn't hostess to her death. I was losing my mother. By any means, I guess.

Other examples include friends and relatives after surgery (DH always says I say the right thing) and when we bought a used car from a woman whose Dh had just died. It was his car. She was so upset having to sell it. I said one thing right off and she just hugged me and cried and told me I'd just said what she was thinking but didn't want to say. 

My intuition is off the charts. I always knew in high school and college when a friend liked someone and still do though my social circle is much smaller these days. It's always SO obvious to me, when no one else can see it. Also I have always just known when people at work are having marital problems. And I mean bosses, who would never discuss such personal matters with me, and I don't just mean I noticed if a wedding band was missing. Odd. And useless!

Edited January 31, 2020 by Angie in VA

[Angie in VA]

1 minute ago, Angie in VA said:

 

 

Hit Quote instead of Edit. Dummy!

Edited January 31, 2020 by Angie in VA

[Pawz4me]

2 hours ago, iamonlyone said:

 

Our older daughter may have a photographic memory. She says sometimes it is a burden because she doesn't forget things. We moved from one state to another when she was three, and she can remember details about what we ate and when and where we went and where she sat—just all kinds of things. Now, I can say something like, "We have never tried making a jelly roll." And she will say, yes, we did when I was 11, you used x recipe from x curriculum, but it had this issue and turned out tasting like this.

Because of her crazy memory, learning has always been easy for her. Being our firstborn, I carefully took her through a reading curriculum (that incorporated sounding out) when she was four, and I had her do spelling every year through a whole spelling series. Later (and after working with our younger children who did need that teaching) I realized how overkill that was for her! She hadn't needed the sounding out (and found it frustrating) because she could read a word after the first time she knew what it was, and she never missed a spelling word—but I was trying so hard to do it "right"!

This is my DS21. He's 2e, on the spectrum and gifted. Working memory is one of his most gifted areas. He's literally off the charts. The psychologist who tested him seemed a bit stunned or awed (or something) when she was describing his ability to hold and mentally manipulate volumes of information. I think living in the real world must be very aggravating for him sometimes. He remembers the names of restaurants we ate at on trips when he was a kid, remembers names of waiters and waitresses, etc. When he was a kid and we'd go to a huge amusement park or somewhere similar we never worried about remembering where we parked. We knew he'd never forget.

I don't know that I have a superpower. I can wake up whenever I want, whether it's an afternoon nap or in the mornings. Right before I go to sleep I just think of the time I want to get up and "fix" it in my mind. And then I wake up within a few minutes of that time. My father could do the same thing. But I've heard of other people who can do it, too, so I don't think it's all that unusual.

[Guest]

I can replace the toilet paper roll in the very same bathroom visit as the previous one empties. Apparently I alone have this ability. 

I am also compelled to replace burned-out bulbs and fix clocks displaying the wrong time. 

[KidsHappen]

I have a dd who can tell you what she ate on any given day in the past. She has lots of weird memory quirks like that.

My hubby has premonitions. An example, about a week before Carl Sagan died he told me that Carl Sagan died. A week later I am watching a live news broadcast announcing that Carl Sagan died, so I said to him, "I thought you said Carl Sagan died last week?" His reply was that I must have been watching an old broadcast but when we looked it up, he had died that day. He saw the Challenger explosion before it happened and knew I was pregnant with one of my dd probably as soon as sperm and egg met.

Animals and small children are weirdly attracted to me even though I not a particularly warm. mothering, pet-friendly kind of person.

[TravelingChris]

On 1/30/2020 at 9:38 PM, CuriousMomof3 said:

My DH's superpower is sleep. He goes from awake to asleep in a second, almost no matter how much stress he's under.  

Gosh, this.  On the other hand, I and two of my three kids have insomnia and super hard to fall asleep=-==both my son and I can function on very little to no sleep at least for a day.  I do not consider that a super power.

[TravelingChris]

I have an exceptionally good memory.  My first memory that I can place accurately is when i am seven months old.  My second is from ten and a half months old.  I remember not only my life but lots of others things too.  Facts, occurences, studies, totally useless info I just scrolled by, etc. etc/  Both dh and I used to do psych tests for money in college.  They had to throw my test out because my memory for placing events in correct order was such an outlier in how correct I was.  One of my very strong talents in memory is smells and foods.

Two ouf of three children inherited remarkable memories-  last one has had so much brain trauma that hers is not amywhere as good.  Dh has a fairly  strong memory and does remembr his life from a fairly young age- about 1.5 years/  DS is also about 1;5 years as is DD2/  DD2, though, cam recognize instrument sounds very well in a piece.  She also has an extremely strong visual as in spatial memory- she can walk around hotels we stayed at when she was 2 in her head==== but remarkably, her sense of orientation in driving is worse than the other family members. o have alway had a remarkable orientation of where I am while driving or walking.  Oh, and dd2 sees the way to fix something much more naturaly than anyone else in the family.

DD1 is a remarkably fast writer=== she used to write 15 page debate briefs in an hour. 

[J-rap]

1 hour ago, TravelingChris said:

I have an exceptionally good memory.  My first memory that I can place accurately is when i am seven months old.  My second is from ten and a half months old.  I remember not only my life but lots of others things too.  Facts, occurences, studies, totally useless info I just scrolled by, etc. etc/  Both dh and I used to do psych tests for money in college.  They had to throw my test out because my memory for placing events in correct order was such an outlier in how correct I was.  One of my very strong talents in memory is smells and foods.

Two ouf of three children inherited remarkable memories-  last one has had so much brain trauma that hers is not amywhere as good.  Dh has a fairly  strong memory and does remembr his life from a fairly young age- about 1.5 years/  DS is also about 1;5 years as is DD2/  DD2, though, cam recognize instrument sounds very well in a piece.  She also has an extremely strong visual as in spatial memory- she can walk around hotels we stayed at when she was 2 in her head==== but remarkably, her sense of orientation in driving is worse than the other family members. o have alway had a remarkable orientation of where I am while driving or walking.  Oh, and dd2 sees the way to fix something much more naturaly than anyone else in the family.

DD1 is a remarkably fast writer=== she used to write 15 page debate briefs in an hour. 

I remember my first birthday.  I think my mother was the only one who believed me.  🙂  But I have specific images that I can recall.  The images are as though it's me looking out at them, so sometimes the picture isn't complete.  (These aren't from pictures in an album either -- there aren't any.)   I also remember very clearly specific emotions/thoughts I had when I was very young, like 2 and 3 years old.   

And, I can tell you if your cold has reached your lungs, even if it's not obvious.  I can put my ear to a person's chest and hear it when no one else can.  It's what a doctor uses a stethoscope to hear.  So if my kid had a cough, I could place my ear to their chest and say, "Nah, you're fine," or "You need antibiotics!"  Now that my kids are adults, they'll sometimes bring their friends over so I can listen to their chest.  They don't want to waste their time and money going to the doctor if they don't need to!

[caedmyn]

On 1/30/2020 at 4:19 PM, Slache said:

I can tell if there's a live person in the room even if they're dead silent and perfectly hidden.

 

I can do this one too, but only if I'm specifically trying to tell if there's someone in the room.  Which means that DH can still startle me if I come out of the bathroom in the dark and don't know he's waiting in the hallway.

[Emba]

On 1/30/2020 at 11:55 PM, PinkTulip said:

I have a freakish sense of direction and can get anywhere if I’ve been there before. Even if it was only once, in a different city, and I was a teenager the last time I was there. My husband is constantly trying to get me to follow Google Maps and I never need it. 

I can also smell a lot of unusual things, like temperatures to know if something is hot or cold. 

My dad has this sense of direction superpower. He can give accurate directions even if it’s been decades since he’s been to a place.

i, on the other hand, have no sense of direction at all. It’s like a disability.

[Emba]

I am somewhat randomly able to predict what will happen in movies. It’s not infallible, though. Like I watch a lot of mystery shows and can’t reliably predict who done it, but sometimes for no apparent reason I know things. Like I sat down in the middle of a show I’ve never seen and two or three minutes later my friend sits down. I was like, “that’s the main character, and that’s her boyfriend, but she’s not going to end up with him”. She didn’t believe me, because the best reason I could come up with at that point was “look at his jacket. No way would they put the hero in that jacket.” But it turned out he was a jerk and she met a much nicer guy who she ended up with.

[wintermom]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:03 AM, TheReader said:

I have a genetically passed down ability to heal astoundingly fast from burns. Or, to not be truly impacted in any way. The burn will still hurt a bit, but beyond some initial redness, nothing. 

Some examples: my dad, as a toddler, put his hands on a hot waffle iron. Went to the hospital, was treated, wounds dressed, told to come back the next day to change the dressings. The next day, the doctors unwrapped his hands and found......nothing. Zero evidence of what had seemed to be pretty bad burns the day before. 

My middle son once had boiling water spilled on him. It hurt, of course, and maybe was a little red at first, but no burn marks, blisters, nothing. 

I've been burned by hot pans, irons, curling irons.....maybe a red mark at the beginning, but nothing lasting. In mine and DS's case, neither of us has ever had to treat a burn with anything other than a little cold water run over the burn. 

My grandma has the same ability, all of her children (my dad, his 3 siblings), all of us (me, my sister, and as far as I know, my 3 cousins), and at least my children and my cousin's children (not sure about my sister's kids, but then again, it's also not something we test on purpose, so....and the other 2 cousins don't have kids yet). 

Sunburns are a different story and do impact us like normal people, but not actual burns. My grandma once contacted.....someone?....to offer the family for genetic testing/study, but they didn't take her up on it. 

 

That would be a really handy super power - one I definitely do NOT have. I touched my bicep on the oven door about 6 months ago. The angry red mark is still there. 

[TheReader]

4 minutes ago, wintermom said:

That would be a really handy super power - one I definitely do NOT have. I touched my bicep on the oven door about 6 months ago. The angry red mark is still there. 

Oh, ouch! Yea, that would have been gone by that evening. 

It's definitely something amazing, and incredible it passes down through our genetics despite our respective spouses all not having the same thing. I'd be super curious to get it tested sometime and see if they can't identify something that could help people heal from burns, but at this point, how we'd get that started I have no idea. 

We're also curious how many generations back it goes, and how many it will carry forward. 

[BarbecueMom]

My youngest emits very specific odors depending on what illness he has.  But only I can smell it.  One virus smells like a bowling alley ashtray, a different virus smells like a macaroni and cheese pan after it's been soaking in the sink.  Since he's the only one who smells like that, and I'm the only one who can smell it, I think it's a shared "superpower."

[kbutton]

On 1/30/2020 at 10:52 PM, Paige said:

I can disrupt your bluetooth or otherwise mess up your electronics just by being in the room. Nobody can use the bluetooth in the car at all if I'm riding. It won't stay connected if I'm in the car. When I'm gone, it works. If there's more space like you are in the house with me, it will probably take you a few minutes to lose your connection.

Several women in my family can't wear battery powered mechanical watches without them going "off" regardless of battery status. They have to use wind-ups. 

[MrsMommy]

I get taller when I'm angry.

[Donna]

I have a good sense of direction. If I've been somewhere, I can find my way the next time I go there whether it was days or years ago. Sometimes I know things or predict things before they happen...not everything but random things will pop in my brain then later they happen.

Dd has a crazy good memory. She remembers the tiniest details of things that happened years ago...what she ate or what everyone was wearing. Almost like she has everything in a file cabinet in her brain. She can learn a new tune on her fiddle/violin after hearing it once or twice and has perfect pitch.

[Tree Frog]

5 hours ago, BarbecueMom said:

My youngest emits very specific odors depending on what illness he has.  But only I can smell it.  One virus smells like a bowling alley ashtray, a different virus smells like a macaroni and cheese pan after it's been soaking in the sink.  Since he's the only one who smells like that, and I'm the only one who can smell it, I think it's a shared "superpower."

There was a story not too long ago about a woman (a nurse, I think) who could smell illnesses on individuals. I think her primary focus was Alzheimers (or possibly Parkinsons). She was so accurate they were beginning to study why/how she has this superpower.