What you think you know might not be even close to how the world works. When you’re still a kid, you grow up with all of these traditions, habits, and behaviors in your family that you take for granted. You think that they’re normal and widespread… but that might not actually be the case.
Adult internet users took to an online thread on AskReddit to reveal the most bizarre things their families did that they only later realized other households didn’t do. Keep scrolling to read their experiences, both surprisingly positive and concerningly negative.
Bored Panda reached out to u/Pale_Pie_4789, who sparked the online discussion, for a friendly chat about family habits and traditions. You’ll find our interview with them below!
#1
A refrigerator in the garage full of beer. They got 8 cases of beer delivered on Sundays every single week. I had no clue everyone did not have a beer fridge.
Image source: Sad-Example8810, freepik
#2
Vacuuming the entire house every night and my dad doing a white glove test on everyone’s furniture once a week to make sure we deep cleaned it to his standards. (PS my dad has OCD lol).
Image source: Chris968, cottonbro studio
#3
We needed to literally lick our plates clean. Found out later it’s NOT allowed in most homes.
Image source: No-Needleworker1401, Ivan S
#4
A Christmas picture every year where about 30 of us are wearing paper bags on our heads.
I knew it was quirky but it was our thing. Then us grandkids got old enough to bring partners to family Christmas…
Image source: shmooboorpoo, Getty Images
#5
Mouth kisses. My family were mouth kissers and I didn’t know it was gross and weird until I was an adult.
Image source: mrsmedeiros_says_hi, Julia Kuzenkov
#6
Not my family, but someone I knew in college said their family kept a big pot of gravy on their stove at all times. They would just add to it and keep it going.. they had gravy with every meal. It was like a staple for them.
I like gravy occasionally but that’s just weird.
Image source: Beautiful-Routine489, victoria.
#7
I get a lot of grief for this one from my friends.
I grew up maybe upper middle class? Not sure. Anyhow when we would travel, my father would always order a stretch limo to take us to the airport. One day, as an adult, I was very casually telling this to one of my friends and she was like “Hold up, what?” And that’s when I learned that not every family took limousines to the airport.
Image source: RegularTeacher2, Rene Terp
#8
Kept the bathroom door open. I grew up in a house full of women, no men. So my mom kept the bathroom door open and would full on keep conversations with us girls going while she relieved herself. WE kept the door open to talk to each other and her. When I got my first apartment with a friend, I thankfully got the room with the bathroom attached but I remember leaving both my bedroom door open and the bathroom door as I’m having a conversation with my roomie and she heard me peeing and was the one to tell me that’s not “normal” household behavior 😅😅.
Image source: RadiantChemical7250, Miriam Alonso
#9
My father never spoke to me, never asked about school, never drove me anywhere, my mom did. When I was old enough to visit a friend I was shocked to see their dad was smiling, chatting with us, making us pancakes… I remember I asked my friend “what’s your secret?” because I wanted my dad to be like this with me as well. So, lack of affection (no hugs, kisses) was the normal thing in our house.
Image source: BlueLantern444, Hannah Nelson
#10
POSITIVE POST
I always just thought my parents were just cool, chill and liked all the kids at the house… now as an adult I realize my Mom came from a super [toxic] family…. She saw many kids in our neighborhood going hungry, not wanting to go home, [mistreated], neglected, sad, hurt, etc…. She always treated them like a little members of our family, always let them stay, eat with us, do chores with us, spend the night with no questions, gave medical advice (she was a nurse), explained how and why they needed to go to college. My Dad was always the one who helped with the orchestrated fun, drove us to get ice cream, dropped us off at the movies, made sure we were safe at the pool, took us to an arcade, stayed up as late as us making sure we weren’t doing dumb [stuff].
My point is…. BE THE AMAZING YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.
Image source: saholden87, Andrej Lišakov
#11
I remember spending hours playing boggle, dominoes, parcheesi, and various card games with my parents.
Boggle was the favorite because Mom had MS and used it to help keep her mind sharp as it was affecting her memory. You’d hear her rattle the box and yell “Challenge me!” And no matter where we were or what we were doing Dad and I would drop everything and go play.
Mom passed away in 2009, then Dad followed in 2018. I haven’t played since he passed. Apparently most other people don’t enjoy playing something “boring” like boggle.
Image source: AprilRyanMyFriend, Nothing Ahead
#12
Making your kids eat food they spilled on the floor. It was so awkward when I told this story to someone in my college class and their response was “that’s just [mistreatment]”. I’ve had moments like that more than I care to remember and just wish I could have seen how bad some of these scenarios were before talking.
Image source: my_screen_name_sucks, Ron Lach
#13
Muting the tv commercials. My parents would scramble to find the remote so they could hit “mute” for every commercial break. I’m still not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse, because I lost out on hearing a lot of popular culture jingles when I was younger, but missed a good amount of “consumer culture” brain-rot as well.
Image source: lisarista, Karola G
#14
Weird restrictions that only applied to us kids. Only allowed to shower twice a week and had to be cold water becs hot water was wasted on children. Not being allowed to eat anything without express permission from stepmom. Never had an after school snack in my life. She thought we were growing too tall too quickly, so me and my little brother were never allowed to have milk or juice, or fresh fruit and veggies and absolutely no eggs or meat unless it was a special occasion. We both grew up to be tall anyway.
Image source: ninjabunnay, August de Richelieu
#15
Carpet in the kitchen AND bathroom.
Image source: manatee_poo, user18526052
#16
Showering at **least** twice a day.
Image source: Sammi-416, Yaroslav Shuraev
#17
When we were kids I seem to remember every morning throwing myself into the massive pile of clothes in the big cupboard in the hall to look for clothes for school. Everyone’s (family of 6) clothes were thrown in there together, unfolded, so it wasn’t easy. Often I couldn’t find socks and would have to run to the corner shop for a pair of £1 socks to wear to school. (Honestly, we must have been the only reason they stocked socks).
I used to see tv shows and movies where people had clothes neatly folded in drawers or hung on hangers and thought that was fake 😂
My mum was a widowed mum of 5 and looking back, probably had undiagnosed adhd. I imagine she was barely keeping. Her head above water 🤷♀️.
Image source: MeasurementDouble324, Ketut Subiyanto
#18
Starting with the first birthday in January, my family sends the same birthday card from person to person, e.g. someone born on January 17th signs it and sends it to someone on February 1, rinse and repeat, until at the end of the year everyone in the family has signed the card.
Image source: Hot_Track5341, Maxim Simonov
#19
Smacking each other’s [behinds]. My mom and sister and I all did it to each other and it was never weird, it was just something we all found funny. I thought it would be normal to do with friends to, but I went to a very small grade school and didn’t have any friends my age until I graduated and went to a much larger public high school.
When I started there, I smacked one of my friends’ ]behind] while she was bending over to get things out of her locker, and she shouted and jumped up and spun around to stare at me in shock. I almost died of embarrassment, lmao I don’t think I’ve ever smacked [someone] since then. It makes me kind of sad though cuz obviously I respect everyone’s personal space and bodily autonomy but it’s something I did with people I was close too, and I wish I could with my friends.
Image source: powergorillasuit, A. C.
#20
I’ve heard mums don’t tie their kids hands behind chairs and make them eat by bending down to the plate with their mouths – in reaction to them eating with their hands instead of forks. Also they don’t make them eat food out of the rotting food bin, news to me!
Image source: cerednat, Tim Samuel
#21
Families don’t scream at each other that often apparently.
Image source: ninjastarkid, Andrea Piacquadio
#22
My family throws massive parties on Christmas Eve and gets obliterated. They also open presents at midnight and will literally drink until 6-7am. They’ll even have menudo ready for the morning hangovers.
Image source: bearded_charmander, cottonbro studio
#23
I realized that most people genuinely care about their families and the closeness isn’t just a show.
As a kid, my parents were nice to me and my siblings in public.
My mother was a scout den mother, school crossing guard, PTO and rec center volunteer. My father was an all-around decent guy — he’d give someone the shirt off his back.
At home, they[mistreated] us on a daily basis. They beat us to the point that we had to be kept out of school, from time to time, until the visible bruises went away.
Because my sibs and I weren’t permitted to hang out at our friends’ houses, we really had no idea that most people didn’t live like that.
Image source: rosesforthemonsters, Arina Krasnikova
#24
There were a couple years of my childhood where we lived with my grandparents. My 2 aunts and 2 uncles were either still in high school or just barely out of high school and they all lived in the house too.
Every morning we’d all discuss the dreams we’d had through the night. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, my mom, brother & I. It was just what everyone did in the morning. And when we no longer lived together there would often be morning phone calls to discuss dreams.
When I first started dating my boyfriend and spending the night with him I’d wake up in the morning and ask about his dreams and he’d look at me like I was insane. I just thought it was what everyone did.
Image source: meowdrian, Andrea Piacquadio
#25
We are a family of big readers. On family holidays, it would be 100% normal to see my parents and all of us kids draped over different pieces of furniture in the holiday home all quietly reading our own books together. Every now and then, we’d read each other a cool sentence or paragraph, or get up for snacks or drinks, but we’d spend whole afternoons like that.
Image source: lililav, Polina Tankilevitch
#26
I bet a lot of these are going to be depressing so I’ll get this one in real quick.
Sit down all together and eat a home-cooked meal at the dining room table every night. We even ate lunch together at the weekend (assuming you were in). We’d chat a bit and listen to Radio 4 (god I’m so middle class).
When I went to my friends’ houses I was always like, idk, not surprised exactly but at least interested to see them eating in front of the tv and eating chicken nuggets whilst their mum pottered about as a usual thing, since that was a treat in my house.
I was very lucky, I think.
Image source: fatgirlseatmorev20, fauxels
#27
Mother’s don’t hold knives to their daughters throats at Christmas day lunch. Who would’ve known!
Image source: Ill_Conversation2901, Ketut Subiyanto
#28
We held weekly dinners for embassy employees. Had a couple maids. Had different tutors almost every day.
Didn’t know what poverty was until I was older. Once I saw my parents give this person money, and that person started fighting with another person for it, and I didn’t get it.
Image source: valerioshi, cottonbro studio
#29
We cheered for each other’s farts. Apparently, that’s weird.
Image source: SnooKiwis3073, Michael T
#30
That people don’t share cars.
I grew up my parents didn’t have a specific car they just drove whichever they felt like. When my siblings got cars it was like a communal fleet and daily schedule for who was driving what where.
I literally let anyone (I know, friends, family, partners family) drive my car.
My siblings let me drive theirs and it’s not really a huge deal.
I talk to my friends and partner (and his family) this is very much not normal and people don’t share or let anyone drive their car. I was soo mind blown. It’s just car…. It’s insured…. I don’t understand, if someone needs it and it’s just gonna sit there why not let them use it 🤷♀️.
Image source: Calm_Wolverine_9528, Robert So
#31
Fearing your father. I wasn’t allowed to visit my friend’s houses often, but when I did get to I was always shocked at how they were allowed to speak to their dad. No fear of spankings or intimidation, no belittling in front of others.
Image source: mediocreterran, Kindel Media
#32
Fried squirrel and gravy isn’t a delicacy nor a staple in most family units.
Image source: winterwinds666, Valeria Boltneva
#33
We never ate dinner as a family. First the kids; then the parents. Also weren’t allowed to drink any liquids with meals because it was supposed to be better for digestion. Fun!
Image source: HedgehogNo8361, August de Richelieu
#34
Having yelled conversations from another room. I dont do it any more but my husband used to get really annoyed by it and I didn’t understand for a while what the problem was. Now, I totally get how rude it is.
Image source: Neozelandesa, Anna Tarazevich
#35
This one’s positive.
My grandma was born with one arm. It was never weird or looked down on in my family. No one even brought it up. So of course, as a kid, I made the assumption that everyone’s grandma has one arm. I sometimes still get thrown off if I’m meeting someone’s grandma for the first time and I shake their right hand. I always held my grandma’s left hand.
Image source: captain_d**kfist, Askar Abayev
#36
When it’s your birthday, you’re the boss of the house until the next person in the household’s birthday.
My sister’s birthday is exactly two weeks after mine, but I was thrilled when I moved in with my boyfriend, whose birthday was 23 days before mine, and we had no flatmates. Conveniently for him, he said as his family didn’t have this rule, he wouldn’t abide by it.
Image source: adsj, Chad Populis
#37
Post-meal reviews.
I come from A Food Family. Some of us do it professionally, some of us are just hobbyists, but it’s a huge thing for us both culturally and personally. After any “big meal”, like for a birthday or holiday, we’ll talk about what we liked, what we didn’t like, how it can be done better or even just different. We haven’t had turkey on thanksgiving in years, and I can’t tell you the last time someone said “but it’s tradition!” when it comes to certain dishes on specific holidays. We’re doing lamb for thanksgiving this year, for instance. The closest we get to actual tradition is that whoever’s birthday it is, they get to pick the meal.
After the first set of holidays with my husband’s family, it became VERY apparent that no one had ever even considered commenting on or discussing the food in any sort of constructive way beyond “wow MIL, you can hardly tell there isn’t a single grain of salt in any of these dishes! So healthy!”. I’m not talking like, rip everything apart Hells Kitchen-style, but just like… Hey, have we considered not roasting the turkey until it hits 190°F at the legs? Or can we season the pierogi filling and possibly the dough so it doesn’t bear a stunning resemblance to wallpaper paste with a hard shell? Nothing, nada, zilch.
That took some getting used to. Now I just annex holiday dishes every year so everyone can enjoy at least part of the meal.
Image source: Peaches5893, National Cancer Institute
#38
Parents taking all our Halloween candy and separating it into good and bad. Good got parcelled away a bit at a time, like once a week. Bad got saved for next year to hand out to the rest of the neighborhood.
Image source: INTJ_Linguaphile, Daisy Anderson
#39
We ate dinner late, like 9/10 o’clock. Not for any particularly nefarious reason, we’re just all night owls, and we like to eat dinner a couple of hours before bed.
I still think eating dinner around 6pm is absurdly early. I’m not hungry yet at that time, and if I eat at 630 or so and I’m still up at midnight or later, I definitely get hungry again (not snack hungry, meal hungry).
Image source: QueenSlartibartfast, Sebastian Coman Photography
#40
My mum stayed in bed all day until dinner time, watching tv. I thought it was normal until I visited friends’ houses and their mums were up and dressed! Only realised many years later that she was dealing with depression, anxiety and most likely undiagnosed autism.
Image source: oldschoolie, Karola G
#41
That many people actually stay in touch with extended family, and actually want to be with them, as opposed to the friction and favoritism I saw in mine.
Hell, I didn’t even know I had grandparents until I was around 10/11 years old.
I still refer to those strangers as ‘my dad’s parents’. I never knew my maternal grandmother because she died young, and my maternal grandfather wasn’t in my life until much later.
Image source: Dawn-Storm
#42
Eating dinner at other people’s houses, guests weren’t offered or passed the food first. Playing at diff friends’ houses, guests sometimes weren’t offered drinks or snacks—not even fruit, crackers or water.
We were very poor and most ppl had more than we did (they had two working parents, cars and house phones or owned their homes, which we for a time did not b/c we could not afford them), but my mom always gave food and drinks to ppl. Esp to little kids.
Image source: alwaysboopthesnoot
#43
The whole family’s socks were kept in a basket hanging from the kitchen ceiling.
I dont know why.
Image source: Bitter-Pomelo-3962, Andrej Lišakov
#44
Other parents don’t drive drunk with their kids in the car.
Image source: kzwaiz, Element5 Digital
#45
Being very literate. My parents read to me from a young age, and we always had more books than shelf space. Whenever I go to a friend’s house, I’m surprised by the lack of 7 foot tall shelves with double-stacked books and stacks of books on the floor.
Image source: Henry_Fleischer, Andrea Piacquadio
#46
I didn’t know aunts and uncles actually played with the kids. I thought it was only on tv.
Image source: Ceiling-Fan2
#47
That not all families exist in a constant state of tension & low level chaos.
And that siblings in normal families are loving, loyal, & supportive.
Image source: katmcflame
#48
Not an activity, but My mother called me a four year-old monster the entire year I was that age. In college I asked a classmate why that phase wasn’t mentioned in the child development book we were reading.
Image source: ballrmgirl
#49
The ritual of “getting the TV out”.
Until 1991, the only TV our family had was a black-and-white portable that was kept, unplugged, on a shelf, with a cloth over it. If we wanted to watch it, we had to clear a space for it on the dining table, set it up and wait for it to warm up. I remember thinking as a kid that it would be so liberating to be able to just turn the telly on whenever you liked without all that faffing around.
Image source: Pharmacy_Duck, Anete Lusina
#50
I mean I hate to say this because I know it’s not true, but the love I feel from people outside of my family has always been much stronger than the love my family shows me.
Like the first time someone did something for me unconditionally I cried because praise and gifts were the only way they could show me love.
The first time someone hugged me I felt like “wow idk why, but I feel like everything is gonna be okay”.
I talked to my therapist about my fear of intimacy and we concluded that I didn’t receive love in the ways I wanted as a child. No physical touch, no acts of service, but plenty of quality time, gifts, and words of affirmation. Because of this it was shocking to feel those different love languages for the first time.
Image source: Deaf_Playa
#51
We, as young teenage girls, had a couple of distant members of the family who we were warned to steer clear of. I thought every family had a couple of those.
Image source: Dudemcdudey
#52
We always hug hello and goodbye and say “love you”. Non-family gets hugs,too.
Image source: garysgirly, Caleb Oquendo
#53
I’m in my 30s now, but took a long time to realize how dysfunctional my family was.
Lacking affection from parents and them having interest in your hobbies seemed normal to me.
An alcoholic dad who made fun of you but tried to get you to drink with him and be considered cool with your peers.
Not being allowed to make mistakes. Being told you were a disappointment when you didnt succeed at things.
Being told what to study in college or what job to work at.
Never being wrong and twisting things to them being the victim or you being wrong.
Them actively stopping you from getting help with mental health out of fear of being “labelled” or fear of embarrassment of others knowing you had struggles.
Both parents putting down each other trying to get you to take one of their sides against the other.
There’s so much more, but its late and I can’t focus.
I thought families were always dysfunctional and just hid it from others. Then you see a completely healthy family and you’re suspicious of why they’re so chill and loving.
Image source: Monogamous-MTF
#54
When my extended family gets together we start the party at 4, eat apps/snacks and drink for an hour or so, watch whatever ballgame is on, chat. Then we eat dinner. It’s always a buffet and sit anywhere you can find a seat. Many times I’ve been invited to someone’s house for dinner. I thought everyone had cocktail hour before dinner. No, they just go straight to the dinner table and the food starts being served in like 20 minutes.
Image source: jbarinsd
#55
My parent’s constant nagging each other and putting each other down.
It made me feel very alien when I was at friend’s houses where their parents got along.
Image source: nocleverusername-
#56
My brother physically beating up on me, his younger sister. I think my parents didn’t know what to do about it. He had quite the temper. I was in therapy and I mentioned to my therapist that my brother beat up on me often, just like what was normal in other families. She looked at me and said “that’s not normal”.
Image source: TingTingAki
#57
Not me but my children:
We play a game every night at dinner called High, Low, & Funny. The children tell us the high point of their day. Then they tell us something stinky that happened. We follow the stinky part up with something to giggle about. This is to help our kids get better at communicating and sharing.
My son was at a friend’s house for dinner and was in shock that they’d never played it. He called me right away to tell me all about how weird it was that they’d never played didn’t play it.
Image source: Friday_dances
#58
Birthday wishes-you hold your present over the birthday person’s head and say this in a sing song way: “heavy heavy hang over thy poor head, what do you wish this person with a bump on the head?” They then make a wish for you before opening the present.
I have yet to meet someone else who does this. Not sure where it came from but we’ve been doing it my whole life.
Image source: crossmyheart97
#59
Saying “I love you!” every time a family member walks out the door or gets off the phone. Sometimes multiple times.
My kids follow my lead so enthusiastically that we had to literally limit it to “ONLY ONE ILOVEYOU”. (Funny when someone comes back for a forgotten key or hat or bag ‘, and the chorus starts up again.) My husband’s family is kind but not as demonstrative, so affectionate words are for Special Occasions. It was adorable to see his parents react to being cheerfully told, “I love you!” on random weekdays by my kids.
Then again, the backstory is that my family moved a lot internationally, so sometimes a hug and an ILOVEYOU had to last a few years before we saw someone again. I said an “I love you” to my grandfather before moving overseas, and a month later he passed away.
Every chance to remind someone that you care for them is a good one :).
Image source: sunonmyfacedays
#60
I was born in 1989 and raised in the 90s by a single mother. Back then, everyone let their kids play outside until it started to get dark.
My mom let me do this as well except she had a rule. I had to either call or come home and check in every couple of hours.
I assumed every household did this. It wasn’t until my friends said my mom was strict that I realized it was abnormal. Even as a kid, I never thought my mom was strict. She just wanted to make certain I was safe.
Image source: PikkiNikki13
#61
Never really clicked in until after high-school that, everyone’s mom doesn’t have bpd and narcissism.
Some people’s parents want the best for their kids and aren’t looking for infinite free passes from the behavior.
Image source: Smeagolmyboy
#62
My parents basically outsourced having to do things with me—we were solidly middle class, but I’m in my mid-thirties and starting to realize how not normal that was. If anyone else can relate, that would be cool because I have yet to meet anyone who was just… alone… the way I was.
I was really lucky that my parents drove me to music lessons, therapy, and paid for me to go to a daycare that regularly provided enrichment experiences. My mom even took me to the Bahamas a few times and literally paid someone to do a few excursions with me. Otherwise, I didn’t see her.
I never had homework help. There were no routines.
No one sat down with me to practice piano.
No one taught me basic hygiene, like how to take care of my hair, use deodorant, put on a coat over long sleeves, how to make my bed, or even shave my legs.
No one taught me how to act appropriately at friends houses, so with ADHD, I mostly just got consistently banned from them.
To this day, I am still figuring out basic life skills and realizing THAT is why I always felt so disconnected from my family.
Other people DID things together. Outside of watching TV, driving me places, or ordering takeout? I had very little relationship with my mom, dad, or sibling beyond that. It’s really hard to describe.
Image source: arrowsbyanothername
#63
I found out that my kids were shocked to learn that the Motorcyle Game isn’t an *everyone* game, but it should be.
It is a *competitive sport* in our family to be the first to call “Motorcyle” when one is sighted (even in murals, apparently) or heard.
**This game can save lives**.
Also seems much fairer and kinder than Punch-Buggy, especially when your spouse and children are colorblind AF.
Image source: HotAsElle
#64
My dad was always hard on me. Yelling at me for small things and exploding on me for a big mistake. I would always be afraid to make my friend’s dads upset because I thought they would do the same.
I have two daughters now and I have never and will never yell at them like that. I will break the cycle.
Image source: hahnsolo1414
#65
When I went to visit my grandparents my Nan would give us courses of dessert. Jelly, then ice cream. And sometimes something else. When I went with friends once they couldn’t believe we got that much dessert 🤣
It was definitely too much 😁
Then we’d leave an Nan would sneak us more chocolate to take home. God I miss her.
Image source: nichtgirl
#66
Not having basically any semblance of relationship with your parents, I guess? I don’t know what it’s like to be raised by my parents because they divorced very early on in my life. I also don’t know what love and showing romantic affection look like because apparently you’re supposed to learn from your parents.
I really was shocked that people have good relationships with their parents. This reminds me of that episode in The Office where Dwight talks about how his mom is distant like an aunt while his aunt is close like a mom to him, that’s exactly it.
Image source: deoxir
#67
If you disagree with someone you yell. I was shocked to find out that you could have disagreements without verbally attacking someone.
Image source: siritachi87
#68
It’s a small thing, but the home I grew up for several years had a special holder for Dixie cups mounted to the wall, right next to the bathroom sink. I remember the first time I stayed at a friends house wondering where their Dixie cups were and how they rinsed their mouths out without them.
Image source: proud_new_scum
#69
Never eating lunch. I was shocked when I learned it was not optional for most people.
Image source: Unspicy_Tuna
#70
Powdered milk. I didn’t realise that basically no one else used it, I even used it as a young adult because I didn’t know that actual milk is delicious.
Image source: PatienceFar1140
#71
I didn’t realize people actually ate turkey at Thanksgiving. We always had a ham, and I thought that was just something people did on TV.
Turns out my grandma just hates turkey.
Image source: cayvro
#72
Did you know there are families that TALK at dinner? Like, OUT LOUD? To EACH OTHER?
I did not.
Image source: Jazmadoodle
#73
Not as dramatic as other stories here –
In my family it was totally normal to peel down a banana half-way, break off half and fold the peel back over and put the other half back in the fruit bowl for the next guy.
My boyfriend had never seen anything like that before and later on told me how strange it seemed to him.
Image source: 2D617
#74
It’s what we didn’t do. Both parents came from teetotal families. It was rare that they kept alcohol in the home or served it to guests.
Image source: Small-Muffin-4002
#75
Tuna sandwiches and potato soup for dinner, grilled cheese with tomato soup for dinner, breakfast for dinner, and never eating out.
Image source: ThrowingAbundance
#76
We were 6 people in a one-bathroom house when I was growing up, and while I don’t really have many detailed memories, but there definitely weren’t enough towel bars for 6 towels. Everyone would just come and go if you were in the shower too.
Image source: IAmGoingToFuckThat
#77
Parents don’t blame their children for the filth in the house. Parents will fix broken toilets and showers. Parents don’t yell at their kids when they need lunch money.
Image source: fmasq
#78
We ate our green salad after the main course at dinner time, at a friend’s house, it was salad before. Also, no drinks at any meal, always afterwards (I now know why, no spills).
Image source: wirefixer
#79
Maple syrup on pierogis.
Image source: smeldorf
#80
When we’d eat ice cream, it would be in a huge cereal bowl mounded over the top. Like 5-6 normal scoops. My husband pointed out that was excessive. I’d never thought about it.
Image source: goatgirl16
#81
Not saying goodbye. Maybe an “alright” or an “I’m leaving” but no “goodbye” or “so long”, etc….
Image source: Electrical_Match3673
#82
Mother’s are nice to their children and hug them and have their back.
Image source: justabloodykid
#83
Getting angry. Hate yourself. Everyone in my family is angry. For nothing, without a clear reason. It’s mostly like that in my mother’s family. On the other hand, some were at his funeral… In my father’s, it’s less common, but I visited them less. I had to learn to become less resentful. To make efforts to maintain relationships. It wasn’t in my upbringing, but I tried not to reproduce such behavior. In my husband’s family, it’s the opposite: they never get angry. This is very surprising because certain things are discussed and thought about collectively and thus, situations of family breakdown are avoided. I prefer this way of working.
Image source: SomewhereBZH29
#84
Family was pretty toxic in alot of ways but one thing positive…
Home cooked dinner together at 6 every day. If you were working you got a pass, otherwise you were home for dinner at 6. Also, had to learn to cook pretty young cause parents were also not always home for dinner at 6. Still pretty positive that I could feed a family of 6 on 100/week- would all be from healthy and from scratch – usually not “what you want/sounds good” but there would be 3 meals a day.
Image source: Comfortable-Salt-710
#85
Just how I grew up in general. The screaming and fighting, lots of domestic violence, cops called and people getting arrested. Moving after being evicted. It honestly was not until my early 30’s when I sat with a therapist who asked me what my childhood was like. When I told her, her jaw dropped and explained how that is now average and was considered a very traumatic childhood. I’m still working extremely hard to work through those traumas.
Image source: pinetree2426
#86
Gonna buck the trend and go with one of the lighthearted things: while most folks placed heavy emphasis on Christmas dinner, my family had Christmas Breakfast and very specifically with it was Chocolate Gravy.
Chocolate Gravy is, essentially, hot chocolate that’s been thickened up and was then poured over biscuits and other breakfast breads. Everyone would think you added cocoa powder to regular sausage gravy and think it sounded gross, but everyone who’s tried it has enjoyed it. 100% worth having to deal with Bible study and prayer and stuff before opening presents.
Image source: corkscrewfork
#87
Stuff. My mom had (still has) a [lot] of stuff. I was baffled when I first visited a friend’s place and could walk around the house head on as opposed to shimming sideways time to time. It blew my mind. I was like, “Oh, they must be poor because where is all their stuff?” Wild.
Image source: Dont_mind_if_I_do85
#88
Reading for breakfast. We’d always eat together, my parents with one morning newspaper each and us kids with comic books. They were laid out as a part of setting the table.
Image source: Various_Deer_7567
#89
We would always have great gatherings at each other’s homes and everyone had to call the host to let them know they had gotten home safely.
We grew up in NYC and you would have people who had walked over, driver over, took the subway and my mom would wait until everyone had let her know they were ok.
When my grandmother would get home from the long walk to the next apartment building, she’d ‘ring’ once . If I accompanied her she’d make me ring her phone once.
We cousins and siblings all joke about it. But we always text now when we get home . Technology follows up I guess!
Image source: BaldGuy813
#90
Lying. My mother, I believe, could be diagnosed with NPD if she sought diagnosis. She would probably think these traits are a positive thing, though, because they serve her. So maybe she would not be diagnosed (Narcissism is only a “disorder” if the narcissist does not like how things pan out for them. She likes manipulating people to get her way, so I think she’d see it as a positive.) Anyway, I was in high school before I realized people communicate in words to communicate the truth. They actually trust and respect the people with whom they are speaking. It was so eye-opening for me. My first long-term boyfriend was entirely honest (and kind, thankfully). He taught me so much. I learned that it was just fine to not embellish, to not manipulate, to just communicate on equal footing. It’s also fine to admit when you make a mistake- respectable, even. I’m so grateful to have had those influences.
Image source: WhatsInAName8879660
#91
Getting absolutely plastered at every family gathering and starting fights, throwing furniture, getting the cops called.
Then I met my partner. Spent time with his family. They’re kind, sweet, care about each other, and actually enjoy being together. It’s so weird to have a family meal without the threat of violence.
Image source: freyjathebloody
#92
Have family members all over the world and everyone being multilingual. As 4 languages were taught in school I assumed every adult spoke at least 4 languages.
Image source: LaoBa
#93
The amount of sugar people eat, or rather the amount we don’t eat!
My mum’s been really hostile about my almost-2-year-old’s diet since she started on solid food, telling people we have her on some kind of super strict specialist sugar-free diet. And it’s really confusing because no we don’t? We just feed her what we eat and don’t give her sweets (at this point I don’t mind her having a little bit of cake etc occasionally to join in with others but if I tell my mum that it’ll be sweets for every meal).
She’s recently started babysitting her once-twice a month and after some really confusing conversations I’ve realised it’s because she thinks the only way to not eat sugar is to buy pre-made products marketed as “sugar-free”. So sugar-free ketchup, sugar-free flavoured instant porridge, sugar-free flavoured yoghurts, sugar-free croissants etc.
She just doesn’t get that we don’t buy or use any of that stuff, we just cook normal home-made food and don’t put sugar in things or eat sugary products with it. And it’s not just for our daughter, we’ve always eaten like that, it’s not some big conscious effort! It’s been eye opening that in her household their diet seems to lean so heavily on pre-made products. .
Image source: Raisinsandfairywings
#94
The only pizza topping was pepperoni.
I was in college before I regularly ate any other pizza.
Image source: anonthrowawayad
Follow Us
