What happened when you were YOUNG that you DIDN'T UNDERSTAND until YEARS LATER? - Reddit Podcast

[@veronicamaine3813]

Imagine the soul searching and questioning that goes on when your kid doesn’t question their goldfish running away 😂

[@ArguAngels]

"Yeah kiddo, once they fully mature, they grow legs and start running for the hills. Ya hear me?" Also- 🐟 🦵🦵

[@dfreeman13]

My soul would die if that was my child.

[@grandshadowseal]

I imagined the fish with legs and briefcase 😂

[@eightw5783]

but where were his running shoes mum? Where were his shoes?

[@deeanna8448]

The kid who was mad at his father with cancer for not being able to play and ride carnival rides shouldn't feel guilty. Their parents should have made it clear to them what was going on.

[@kellharris2491]

Yeah they didn't do him any favors keep it such a secret.

[@jamesjam0552]

@@kellharris2491 yeah especially since they thought the dad was going to die soon, like thats a pretty messed up thing to keep secret

[@maxwhite8616]

He is lucky to get the chance to apologise even though he doesn't need too.

[@hiredmurderer6228]

No, he better feels guilty, deserve it or not. It will be a nice life lesson.

[@maxwhite8616]

@@hiredmurderer6228 I see your point but I disagree due to the fact he was a kid

[@silverdemonwolf426]

Something that took me WAY too long to realize in hindsight: in high school I would sit right behind the bus driver on the school bus (I was bullied a lot and it was a safer spot). One day the principal called me to the office and said the bus driver had smelled weed on the bus and since I sat right behind him, he was checking with me. I was a very sheltered kid and had no idea what weed smelled like, and the only answer the principal could give to clarify was 'burning rope', which... Did not help. Seeing as I was clueless, I was sent back to class. It was only TWENTY YEARS later, when passing by someone in the store with that characteristic smell and chuckling to myself that someone had either smoked recently or gotten sprayed with a skunk that I realized: not long before that conversation, my dog had gotten out, tried to chase a skunk, got sprayed for his efforts, and when he got back proceeded to roll EVERYWHERE in the house to try and get it off before we could catch him. The house, and presumably us and our clothes, smelled like skunk for a good three weeks afterwards. So it wasn't weed that the bus driver was smelling, but the kid who sat directly behind him whose dog had a run-in with a skunk.

[@Kangaroojack1986]

Lol, how did the principal think weed smelled more like burning rope rather than a skunk. But I could see how somebody not familiar with weed wouldn't necessarily know how to describe it to a little kid.

[@IoEstasCedonta]

@@Kangaroojack1986 Same plant (usually - well, I think most rope is synthetic now), I guess?

[@biancabailey7323]

I have one. When I was in kindergarten, a tall lightskin woman showed up and said my mom told her to come get me. Ms. Quarter, my teacher, asked me if I knew her. Me, being the social anxious kid I was, immediately said “No,” with a frown on my face. My teacher said “It seems she doesn’t know you…” and the woman said, “Bianca, you know me…” I hid behind my teacher saying that I wasn’t leaving with her. A few minutes later, my mom came and the teacher asked if she sent anyone for me…my mother said no…she walked me home holding my hand tight that day. Years later, we talked about it and it dawned on me someone was trying to kidnap me. We still don’t know who it was.

[@ITSTIMETOSAYGOODBYE]

HOW DID THEY KNOW YOUR NAME..?

[@biancabailey7323]

@@ITSTIMETOSAYGOODBYE my mom and I still don’t know. It had to be someone who knew of her or my dad. My mom would proudly talk about us so it had to be someone who knew her to set it up. What’s crazy is she couldn’t have known me too well because everyone around me called me by my nickname. No one close to me called me by my real name.

[@biancabailey7323]

@@musicnightmare yea. I definitely can. I am still that untrusting person too lol. Thank you.

[@kellyl13]

I have been physically disabled since birth. Until I was about 6, my parents thought I couldn't speak properly; I apparently refused to speak to them, but my sisters remember me speaking to them. As an adult, it suddenly occurred to me that what I thought was home schooling was actually speech therapy.

[@bryantbodnar]

To the kid who’s dad had cancer: I am so happy your father beat it, even after the doctor said he Wouldn't. I lost my dad a couple of years ago, and it still feels so fresh. I would do anything to just get a single hug again.

[@ElemonAdventures]

I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope you’re doing okay. I can’t imagine losing someone

[@deeanna8448]

When I was young, a close family member was arrested for "crimes against nature". It was explained to me that he was "messing around with men" and the police caught him. I realized years later that he was obviously gay and because that wasn't acceptable when he was growing up, he had to get married to a woman. They ended up having a miserable marriage and he was chronically depressed. Now I realize it sucks that he wasn't allowed to live his authentic life and pulled someone else in on the charade. I also realize it was a BS charge and that an undercover cop had solicited him. This was back when sodomy was a crime. Imagine all the lives ruined because of bigoted laws like that.

[@mr.dickbutttheog2064]

Oh my God, that's terrible. I'm so sorry to hear that, hope your uncle is doing fine now. The fact that you can get arrested back then for something like that is stupid

[@breadmusic1]

Don't ruin the 69 likes

[@mikaasav1193]

@@breadmusic1it’s gone

[@Corndog_Enthusiast]

@@mr.dickbutttheog2064 It’s punishable by death in a few countries and still very illegal in many more.

[@Westwoodshadowgaming]

so wait, a cop fucked him in the ass and only he's gay? what kind of world is this?

[@betsyb]

when i was little, around 7-8 or so, i had this friend we’ll call vanessa, who was quite a bit older than me. i can’t remember exactly how much older she was, but the age gap between us was pretty stark. i want to say she was a teenager at the time, she was probably like 12-13 at the least. i could never shake the feeling that my parents didn’t like vanessa and didn’t like me hanging out with her, but i didn’t understand why. eventually we grow apart and stop hanging out, as friends from your childhood tend to do. only now i realize that my parents didn’t trust her because she was so much older than me and they didn’t want her creeping on me or something. as far as i remember there was never anything weird between us, she was perfectly nice and most likely saw me as a little sister more than anything else

[@JakeTheBrainDamagedOne]

That story about the dad with cancer made me sick to my heart but the ending made me sooooo relieved.

[@Brad933]

"I thought it was a place where a lot of screwing happened, but then I learned it was a retirement home" ...you weren't wrong in the first place.

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

My mother told me the story of how her Grandparents would call her "little Janet" in Yiddish as a cute nickname. It wasn't until she was older that she objected to being called "Jennatal."

[@catwoman2596]

And who exactly are the Yiddish? Hmmm...think about it.

[@catwoman2596]

I believe that K.W there may be speaking some truth there...no???????

[@Sam_on_YouTube]

@@catwoman2596 European Jews. Like my ancestors. What are you trying to say?

[@Evie_SG]

💀

[@ssansu]

@@catwoman2596 Yiddish is a language, not a "who", you ignorant racist.

[@A13X_H_22]

Was always told things “always work out and everything will be okay”. As an adult I now know things will almost always never work out and you should count on whatever your hoping on happening not happening. So you can prepare yourself for what comes after.

[@terraalbritton6405]

Wow. That is seriously sad. I am so sorry things have been hard for you!

[@ssansu]

True

[@Kangaroojack1986]

Even if the creeper with a van didn't "do anything" does not mean you can't be proactive and call 911, he's obviously gonna keep trying it if he's up to something. People need to do everything they can to expose predators.

[@SciFiFemale]

I think I was about 6, found my mother's 'toy'. It didn't look like anything, just a slim ribbed tube with a round end, that vibrated when switched on. I thought it must have been to curl her hair. Tried it on my hair but of course nothing happened, then I put it back. Never told my mother as I was not allowed in their room. I know what it was now!

[@stevejoebob6249]

IT WAS A TOOTHBRUSH

[@Pinkblobperson]

Vibrator 💀

[@Poptartsthatareplain101]

That my dad and live in nanny were buying and smoking crack on a regular basis. I was in the car during many of the transactions but never understood the severity of what was happening until I became an adult. They were functional drug users as they still went to work and took care of me and didn’t completely turn their lives upside down financially, or otherwise, the way some of the drug users I came to later know did. I was very close to my father. We had a great relationship despite his choices, though I realize now how easily I could have been put into foster care had even one of those transactions gone wrong while I was in the car. That would have really sucked :/

[@Sjaan_Banaan]

"live in nanny"

[@epicmiles6534]

It's probably why the transactions went smoothly, the dealers may be scumbags but they have certain boundaries they refuse to cross

[@keithdean9149]

I can totally relate to the red hair one. Both my parents and older brother also have dark hair. Mine is red. My brother and I are close in age, he was a year ahead of me in school, so we often had the same teachers, many of whom did not know we are brothers until they recognized our mother from the previous year. And not just teachers, neighbors, parents of friends, etc. would often give us funny looks. Really bad part is, the mailman from the time I was conceived, had red hair. BTW, I look exactly like my father.

[@PrestonSleve]

The way that there is a story about a kid dying from a car crash while going to a birthday party, and the next story starts with "I hope I'm not late to the party" is devious.

[@minisnakali]

"My divorced mother and I" for a split second I thought OP married their mom and divorced her later and I was horrified, then I thought about it and realized no, OP didn't marry their mom...

[@eirdonne_]

LMAOO

[@glamourchick21]

I was probably around nine the time I tried to go into my parents’ room to get something and found the door locked. When I knocked on the door, I remember my mom sounding annoyed when she called, “Who is it?” “Can I come in?” I asked. “No!” my father answered. I shrugged and went off to do something else. …My parents were probably having sex.

[@9inchtablet]

It's also equally likely they were eating food they didn't want to share with their kid(s).

[@glamourchick21]

@@9inchtablet Also a possibility!

[@BumbleBee-wi3cf]

This is a really scary story I remember my friend when we were kids telling me she found transparent balloons on the ground and she gave me one but I refused because I was playing with marbles. I was jealous the whole day because I realised how much fun it was blowing balloons but even after I begged her she refused to give me. She later complained the balloons were oily and no fun and threw it away. Later on me and her realised... Those weren't balloons and... She was lucky she didn't get sick. Someone just disposed them badly💀💀

[@kawaibakaneko]

😱🤢🤮😵

[@hummus_exual]

Mine is really stupid, but when I was in elementary school there was a kid my age who was in special ed class, but we shared recess and sometimes played together. For some reason, he kept on calling me Denise, constantly, no matter how many times I corrected him. Eventually I got so frustrated and convinced that he was mocking me that I never played with him again. Years later, I discovered that there was a kid in his hometown called Dennis who looked just like me. He wasn't calling me Denise to irritate me, he thought I was Dennis. That weird occurrence from my childhood suddenly made sense...

[@FrankFive30]

does the special ed guys freind happen to commit tax evasion

[@cariadalexandrite]

I remember watching M*A*S*H as a kid and when Hawkeye 'couldn't do it', I thought he couldn't bring himself to kiss a woman because he had feelings for another. Poor Hawkeye had ED.

[@joeligma4721]

HE FUCKING *WHAT NOW*

[@jennybolt8420]

When I was little and I stayed at my grandma's apartment I had a friend a street over and named Patricia and we used to play every weekend and then one day she wasn't there and I didn't know why until later she had got bacterial meningitis and died from having a fever of 108

[@Gr3m7]

That mom wearing that necklace for her kids that is true love

[@anoniukas]

Stories about children, not understanding how serious someone's, who is sick and dying, situation is: I can't imagine how and why parents could exlude their children and not to explain them such kind of things as their parent, having a cancer and being really very sick because of this or his family member or relative being so sick, that they needs to stay at hospital, retirement home, to be nursed daily and etc. like that? Why not to explain them things in life as it is? My grandparents from my father's side died when I was about 2 and 3 year old. And neither my parents, nor my grandparents hid this fact from me. They even used to explain me things about life and sickness and death many times again and again from various points if picture (even while having to burry dead animals) later, until I understood it. I'm thankful for them (especially my granny) for doing it.

[@kawaibakaneko]

I agree. Even something mundane like the flu can explained to kids. My 4 year old daughter is able to understand that soletimes her parents are sick and since she is a sweet child, she'll play nicely near me or her dad. She is able to make the effort to be a little quiet and less demanding, in fact she is happy to do it. Of course since it's going to last two day at most it's not hard for her, but still cancer patient need all the support they can get! I am certain that a lot kid are willing to take care of the people they love, at a child level of course.

[@Gemstone_Vodka]

6:54 this was the first reddit story I ever cried over, some are heartbreaking, but this was pure

[@daniallemons9343]

I was adopted just shy of fifty years ago. We were traveling to our new home and back then stopping along the freeway to take a leak was the norm. Well we stopped this one time and I said to my ‘dad’ wait, there are people down there we can’t go here! Dad said son, if they can see you from there, you should be proud. I was five at the time. It was a quite a few years later before it dawned on me what he was talking about.

[@lenee8959]

Me, now a teenager, realizing that 8 year old me innocently google searching my favorite characters looked at some sensual fanart. It disturbs me now that I never even realized and my mom never knew because I thought every thing was fine. Be careful with letting your kids on the internet.

[@oofyboi5357]

Same here💀I resent for my lost childhood💀

[@emmitnosee5370]

The kid who were saying testes reminded me of my Spanish teacher. He would go around the class passing out our test saying testes testes. And he never understood it.

[@elijahwickham9936]

I am a redhead and people used to ask a lot about it, and still do sometimes. fortunately my parents taught me that it was genetic and it is because of a recessive gene

[@Wrathlon]

Whenever I see a story about how kids didnt realise they grew up poor and feel guilty avout how they treated their parents I see it like this: Your parents succeeded in keeping it from you. Despite everything they ensured you were happy and provided for enough that you didnt kbow anything was off. I think they would be relieved to know that, quite frankly.

[@PatKilbourn]

I was about eight, neither my neighbor or I had adult supervision after school. She had a bad headache; I told her to lie down and got one of my mother's santitary napkins and dipped it in ice water and put it on her head. My step-dad came home later, saw it and asked what on earth we were doing. I explained it was to help her headache. Didn't understand why he was laughing so hard. The first time I found them and asked what they were Mom had told me she used them when she had her bad headaches.

[@natnat8393]

This is such a cute an innocent story lol. Made me smile, thanks for sharing 😊

[@enngee2339]

This is kind of silly but anyone remember those commercials "I've fallen and I can't get up"? They always seemed so ridiculous and made me laugh and eye roll as a kid. As someone who works with seniors now, I've seen people die as a result of falling and not being able to get up. In my defense, those commercials never used frail looking actors, so they are still ridiculous but I know now it can be a very serious thing.

[@ellerj641]

I can think of a few things. First, those "doghouses" people had on their property. I have a huge love for animals, so whenever we went somewhere like to visit people my parents know or an event or something and I would see a "doghouse", I aways want to go to it. I wanted to play and find the cute doggy. But my parents absolutely refused to let me near any of those and made it clear I was to stay away. It wasn't until I was an adult when I discovered they were not dog houses. They were like electrical boxes or something very dangerous that were disguised as doghouses for some stupid reason. Apparently this trend to keep people's yards looking nice didn't last long as some kids played with those things and got killed. Second, I was at my cousin's house and a bunch of other kids were there. We were playing hide and seek. There was this massive green metal box on the property that I never thought much of. Then I see a kid come out of it, and I thought, perfect hiding spot. Thankfully my cousin was with me and encouraged me to find somewhere else to hide. Years later it dawned on me that it was an electrical box and the kid/s who went inside were chastised about it and told not to do it again. I have more but I'll tell this last one. I was at church and being a hyper toddler, I was squirming all over the place. They were having alter call and my mom was at the altar so I was kind of by myself on the pew. All I remember is some lady coming up, picking me up, then walking away. She went to a back hallway and was heading for the exit. My memory tells me I was being kidnapped. I didn't know this lady, where she was taking me, and I wanted my mommy. I screamed and cried relentlessly as she carried me. Much to my relief, I see my mom pop in at the end of the hallway and get me. I brought it up years later and I found out it was actually not a kidnapping attempt. The lady was over children's church or somewhere in the children's department. My mom knew her quite well and apparently I knew her too (but my toddler brain didn't know that). I was being a very bad kid and was very disruptive and causing problems. My mom tried to go up to altar call for prayer and the lady wanted to help my mom out by taking me to children's church (which was a separate building). But I screamed and cried so loud that my mom could hear me in the sanctuary so she had to get up and go get me. I just remember this event so clearly because it was traumatizing to me.

[@TheBigA]

In middle school before I had the birds and the bees talk, we learned about genetics and chromosomes in science class. I asked the teacher on multiple occasions how does the female inherit the male chromosomes. Told her I thought it was during the kiss at a wedding. The teacher always ignored my questions. Now I see why!

[@havanadaurcy1321]

Teacher threatened me with a big stick in Year 8 three times, once when my PMS was really going nuts and everything made me hormonally upset. The teacher's aide soon realised what he meant by his threats when he did the same in my sister's Pastoral care. Yes, he was going to do the R word. I hope his wife never found out.

[@mahogania5536]

No no, the wife should know about it all. Criminal scum like that should know and feel how the street justice works

[@shinobix4925]

When I was a kid, one of my school friends hurt himself one time and yelled out "FUCK N-WORD! FUCK N-WORD" (but replace "N-Word" with the actual N-word). When he looked up and saw me he started apologising profusely. For context I'm black. I had no idea what the word meant at the time so I kinda just smiled and said "It's ok" while wondering what he thought I was upset about

[@IoEstasCedonta]

I mean, there are stories, pretty emotional ones, I think "this didn't happen," but a kid dying in a car crash? Not exactly a black swan event. As for the last one, geez, I can understand why they didn't tell her right away, but you'd think they'd have told her before the *deposition.*

[@lowprofilegam3r]

I was watching Barbie life in the dream house when I was younger and Raquelle said,” Narcissism, by Raquelle” and I didn’t pay attention to it until I got older and understood

[@fireflights1977]

For me I have two instances of something that I didn't realize was so important until I thought about it years later was my brother coming into my room and telling me that he wanted me to try his member in my mouth I was eight years later I realized he forced me to do my first b.j. The second was when I was saved from this mafia guy who'd been chasing me by a group of big burly men it turned out they were the Hell's Angels and had saved me from Mafia by saying I was under their protection.

[@video_knight9868]

the dad who let his daughter keep bugs off his plants was hilarious lmao smart dad, and encouraged her to do what she likes to do, W dad

[@jessicatrevathan]

At least your didn't get your and siblings ages mixed up, that's my dad for, keep you away from table saws my dad last year,with that way I am warning people about them.

[@FrankFive30]

@@jessicatrevathan r/ihadastroke

[@cattowaff]

i remember as a kid i was walking to my grandma's house from a friend's house, it was just down the road, and a car with a couple of older women i didn't know stopped and asked where i was going. i didn't even answer them and just ran home. i recall vividly how my older sister (7 years older) seemed annoyed that i didn't talk to these women, because 'what if they were grandma's friends' thinking back on it i'm so happy i did not think like my sister

[@kawaibakaneko]

Don't know maybe they were worried you were lost?

[@cattowaff]

@@kawaibakaneko maybe so, but it was still creepy af

[@Flightkitten]

As someone who is mentally disabled, it's kind funny to just see kids like: oh fuck not that kid they take 0.2 seconds slower to understand my crap

[@therealnoah6462]

The redhead story was relatable, I am also the only redhead in my family, but in my case it's due to s recessive gene from generations back (No one ever guesses that I'm Latino lol)

[@aliveandhearty7321]

When i was in primary school I was very proud of the large cabbages or yam that i woud gift my teacher on monday mornings. I was well into my thirties when i discovered that was what poor families did to help out the school canteen when they couldn't pay the weekly lunch money. God bless my parents and my little rural school.

[@mishuhhh]

I remember getting 20 bucks from the tooth fairy as a kid , I was all excited when I told my mom and internally she was like 😳 I grabbed the wrong bill 😂

[@merrymaid2890]

Oh my. 😱😂

[@ZiggyonMars]

When I was about 6 or 7 I lost a tooth, and made a tiny fairy-sized letter asking for a real fairy instead of money. Under my pillow the next morning, was a paper fairy with “Mirabell” written on the back. I was so mad I had gotten scammed out of a real fairy. I still have “Mirabell” to this day.

[@gracegirl1086]

The guy saying how messed up it was that a kid died on a way to a birthday straight into reading the next story that starts with "sorry I'm late to the party" made me laugh for a minute there lol.

[@wschnabel1987]

When I was a kid, my dad and I got into RC planes. One day a guy fired up his plane, and didn't have his frequency flag up. Well a guy came in to the site and had another transmitter with the same frequency as the other guy. I ended up having to duck into our cars trunk as the other plane that was already in the air lost control. Basically what happens is the Rc plane was being sent a second set of instructions that it couldn't understand because it had a different set of inputs than the other controler, similar to when you see old cartoons of baby monitors picking up garbled phone calls.

[@wonpilspiano]

Thanks for the “goldfish ran away” story. I was in the middle of sipping a drink. 😭

[@hannahsmiraculoustextingstorys]

The story about the red hair and the mailman is actually something we do in our family you see me, both my parents, and 2 out of my 3 sisters have brown hair however the 3rd sister has strawberry blonde hair and we either say she came from the mail man but mostly we say she came from the milk man good times

[@creamimochi6326]

Story 11: I’m so glad the op was able to live a good life with his father after that instead of being annoyed at him and then his dad leaving

[@TVOverlord_F_Alastor]

It's sad how many fake stories there are that take away support from genuine people like these

[@candibaldwin1569]

13:56 definitely a world class wingman i mean you got him screwed

[@SkYlAr2katz]

12:30 this hits me hardest because my best friend Stacy passed in a car accident the summer of 3rd grade. I never got to say goodbye.

[@XshinymewX]

My dad used a radar detector in the car. I didn't think much about it but as an adult I realize he uses that to go over the speed limit when no cops were around. And boy was that beeping noise of the radar detector annoying as fuck. I didn't know that thing wasn't normal and I thought I was prone to car nausea. Turns out my dad's rough driving always make me feel sick.

[@catharsysgaming]

I remember when I was probably about 5 or 6 years old (for context this would have been late 70s early 80s) where my brownie unit (before girl scouts) was set to do some weekend jambori in a forest somewhere. I really don't remember all of the details, just that my mother and I showed up with all the gear I was supposed to have. (Or at least what I recall was my back pack, sleeping bag, etc), and we were about to walk to my group and suddenly everyone just up and left. We were instructed that the thing was canceled and to go home quickly. I never understood why, just figured I was late and it was over. Oh well. I didn't find out until maybe my late 30s when moving to a new home and finding my sash, that I asked about that weird day. Was told that we (the entire group) was actually ready to do the weekend thing, when cops had shown up and instructed all of us to leave immediately. Apparently some serial killer got loose and was in the area. They didn't want any of us harmed. I remember staring at my mother thinking she was kidding. Apparently not.

[@bubbleslovebird4974]

Moved to a neighborhood, I was little and was riding my bike found some kids of color riding there bike's I was like "cool new friends" Nope. They proceeded to attack me and break the gear on my bike. If 2 men riding there bike's didn't come and chase them off they would have completely destroyed my bike. They escorted me back home keeping me safe from those bully's. Back then I didn't know what racism was and was confused, crying wandering what I did wrong. Later on in life I learned the little punks where trained buy there perants to attack anyone that wasn't black.

[@XFSEO]

That kid that grabbed his bro’s arm when he was following the stranger is a fucking *god*

[@Jackuhlf]

My parents would stop answering their phones and i would call and text and couldn’t find them. They’d be in the guest bedroom downstairs and said they were resting. On July 4th of this year I walked in on them… so glad I didn’t have my glasses on. They didn’t even have the door closed.

[@coolbunny]

Imagine getting caught with your actions simply because you didn't give apples to a kid who loves them.

[@jahimuddin2306]

So many songs (especially by Ke$ha) that I did not understand when I was a child.

[@madelinebryson]

Mom did NOT think it was crap!! She loved it because she loved you

[@Silly_dude_xd]

when i was like 9 or something i was in a hotel in Orlando with my family of four and i was getting ready for bed watching a movie and i went to the bathroom and there was a literal BLOODY TAMPON in the toilet. i screamed for my mom and she had to have the talk with my mom at 8 years old

[@Silly_dude_xd]

edit: srry i put the wrong age

[@Pinkstarclan]

5:02 something similar happened to me! when I was a kid my parents had a copy of one of the old You Don't Know Jack games for the pc, which I asked mom if I could play and she - knowing that I was an easily-frustrated small child with no trivia knowledge - said no, because it was "for adults" (which is true; the knowledge expects you to have lived in the world for a while). So I assumed it was a porn game. cut to: years later, a food truck in our town is partnering with You Don't Know Jack to release a new edition. My dad gets excited and takes us, and then has a good laugh when I, from the passenger seat, express concern that a food truck is plastered with logos for a porn game.

[@JacobNascar]

I was in the 6th or 7th grade when my dad lost his job in 2008. I was a band kid and my parents were making payments on my trumpet. I had no idea how much it cost at the time. I remember one evening a couple of gentlemen from the music shop came to my house to repo the trumpet. My dad wrote a check for a couple hundred dollars so that I could keep playing. I didn't know at the time it was just about the last of my parents money. And because of that crucial moment, over the next several years I would go on to travel the country and perform in front of large crowds like Disney World, Chicago, and perform in front of roughly 3-4 million people in the Washington DC National Cherry Blossom parade which had a large in person attendance as well as a large tv audience. I would go on to perform at band competitions, football games, rallies, state Championships and even go on to earn a full ride scholarship to college.

[@aleksanderweedman8116]

My dad joked about my friend that he needs some blue pills and I was repeatedly asking what meds as I was concerned that he might be ill or smth. After years I understood that my dad was making stupid joke about making that kid D hard (like any kid would need that). My dad liked sick and inappropriate jokes.

[@madysonandres9571]

I had a school van driver from kindergarten to 1st grade. I got a new one in 2nd grade and asked what happened to my old one. The new van driver said he was on vacation. He died during the summer break I’m guessing. I miss you Bill. I miss you so much. :(

[@Zdraviski]

... or maybe he was having children in his van for non-professional reasons.

[@madysonandres9571]

@@Zdraviski In my state we have school vans, an alternative for school buses. It’s basically a van for autistic kids. I’m guessing you don’t have school vans. Plus I was told later on that Bill died.

[@breewadley2284]

There was a song in the 80's called "Masterbating" and it had a catchy tune to it so I would sing it all the time in my 6th grade class..the teacher would always look at me funny and I didn't understand why so I just kept singing it until a classmate came up to me one day and explained what It meant! My 6th grade mind was horrified ..now my teacher thinks I'm a creep! I was so embarrassed to go to class the next day..lols.needless to say I NEVER SANG THE SONG AGAIN🙃🤣

[@pancakegrove2274]

When I was probably about 11, I was by myself roller blading around my family's old sub division like I did almost daily, and this guy walking on the other side of the street stopped me and asked if I new where the nearest grocery store was. I was a shy kid, thought it was really weird to be asked for directions by a lost adult, and just said, "Sorry, no." And continued in my way feeling pretty bad because I actually did know where the nearby Dollar General was. It's only thinking back on it now as an 18 year old that I think how truly weird it was for a grown man to be walking around in a subdivision asking a random young girl for directions to the grocery store. I don’t like to jump to conclusions about people, but I knew it was weird at the time, and now I can't help but wonder if there was something more nefarious going on, and what would have happened if I had stuck around to try and give him directions...

[@mbr8167]

When i was like in 3rd grade, I was on a hockey team. I got tired and there was enough room to lay down on the bench on my back, eyes closed. I then open them when i notice a mom on the bench standing over me and leaning on the back of the bench to talk to someone in the stands. I then realize on this windy day, that I can see up her shirt, and she wasn't wearing a bra at all. 3rd Grader me didn't clock it at all, thought nothing of it. Years later, it had to have been on purpose.

[@ShannylovesMC]

Once was walking home from a friend's house just 5ish houses down from my own. A cop rolled up when I was just a house away, all I needed was to cross the street. He asked young little me, I can't even remember how old I was due to other circumstances, if I needed a ride home. Upon me telling him how close I was to home, he insisted. I was genuinely confused as to why I would need help getting home while so close, it was years later that I understood what was going on and what I avoided with genuine confusion

[@TheEKdude]

This is something im pretty sure a lot of people realize as they grow up: As a young boy, I was never worried about anything since I was a child, obviously, and growing up, i never really realized how much my mom struggled her ass trying to buildna good life for me and m siblings. When she first moved to America, she was under a lot of spiritual warfare since she came from a humble christian ministry, and lots of people talked her down and even when she got married to my dad, she was still shitted on and I never realized until i was in 6th grade, when I started to mature and realize how much pressure shes been under. Nowadays, when I see her, she has bags under her eyes, she looks tired, and even stressed. I only have 4-3 years until i graduate, and I ony want to continue because of her. We all dont realize how muchnour parents suffer for us, and we should love them because they made us into the people we are today. After you read this comment, i want you to go and hug your parents, or your sibling, friend, fiancee, and just tell them you love them.

[@Fayanora]

I was once tasked to write a letter from the tooth fairy for my sister, a response to a letter she wrote the tooth fairy asking why she collects teeth. In it, the tooth fairy answered my sister's question by saying "I build my castle out of those teeth. Very strong material, teeth."

[@grisheexi7219]

I hope Daniel is in a better place now. Also, glow-in-the-dark triceratops are kickass.

[@brambleheart]

When I was about 7, my dad sat my cousin and I down and told us that my cousin would be living at his dads for a few months (we didn’t really have contact with him before this). When we asked why, my dad said my aunt (cousin’s mom) was going to a special school in Florida where she would learn to quit smoking. My cousin and I had already started doing basic DARE stuff so we bought it. Years later my mom let it slip that my aunt was actually going into rehab for other substances. Looking back I should have bought the signs-even after my aunt got back she still smoked. But DARE taught me that some people start smoking again because they “miss smoking” even after they initially quit. On a lighter story-my parents are hippies and dabble in the mind altering aspects of life. My mom and I lived in an apartment with a screened in balcony (for safety) when I was 10, and my mom wanted to grow some plants. It was my chore to water the flowers. One of the plants was different. My mom told me it was a special flower that nobody knew the name of. She told me I had to take good care of it because it was special. A few mo the ago I was thinking about it. It was weed. I even asked my mom and she said it was. That was in Canada in 2015, a few years before it was legalized. Since the government was in the process of legalizing it, the laws were more laxed, but it was still taboo to talk about. Around the same time she got special cigarettes from a friend in a Native American reserve that smelled different from normal ones because they were “made differently”. Those were joints. Bravo mom for pioneering legalization. Bravo.

[@Leavemealoneheh]

On story 8, it took me while before I realised and now I'm wheezing💀😂💀

[@elhazthorn918]

My uncle had a really long nail on his pinkie when I was growing up, and never realized why until alarmingly recently. 😮

[@Elodie-xi3pp]

In some of these cases op dodged a bullet by not understanding what happened

[@vinawaldren6888]

Well this is kinda effed up but when I was little, (circa 1977 ish) I kept asking my mom (prompted by friends) about the "birds and the bees"... she'd just say "no, you're too young" or "we don't talk about that"...blah, blah, blah... Well, I already knew what sex was (thanks to the neighborhood perv) I just thought the birds and the bees was something else!

[@theviking1359]

The significance of the Berlin Wall falling

[@sh-ig9fm]

When I was a kid I always thought the ringing in my ears was the sound of my inner ears when everything was quiet like some ambience to keep my ears active when there was no sound.

[@sh-ig9fm]

@@michellefreeman5700 yea I did a tone test and I heard all the different levels the Dr said my hearing was great. But I think that's was for how lowed the ringing is because that's what we did with the tone thing as well

[@stevensanto5934]

I was a kid who used to go to a special speech school, and got picked up by school employed taxi. There was one who replaced the main driver, and he treated me differently from the other kids, one day he had me in the front with him instead of the back with the others, and he was touching my leg throughout the journey. Didn't really understand what was going on, but I mentioned to my mum. She flipped as you could understand and I don't believe I ever seen that driver again. Wasn't until many years later I understood everything that happened. Good job I mentioned that, otherwise I can only imagine how worse that could have gotten...

[@thelegendaryonionring4304]

Story #16 He stole it which was Shitty But at least he gave it back possibly over how upset his friend was If that was my school you would have never seen that Charizard again I should know it happened a lot with Yugioh cards

[@mark13hazard]

some of these stories are sad and made me tear up. The one with the dad fighting cancer and couldn't stand up for a presentation for example.

[@indridcold8433]

I had an engine that I rebuilt but did not run. Today, I realize the engine was 360° off timing. I sold that engine very affordably. The person that bought it had it running the next day.

[@keepitsimple003]

When I was a kid I barely had any relatives visit my family. What made both sides of my relatives completely disappear out of my life was when my dad went to jail for rape (he served 3 years from 96 - 99). My parents eventually took my siblings and I to church 02 and it was the first time we met my dad's side of the family. it as weird being an odd ball there since all my ethnic community knew about the troubling past of my parents. Fast forward to 09, my dad took my mom's life, my ethnic community/church family showed me their true feelings towards my parents and family, and it caused a huge rift between my family and both sides of our relatives. I later learned from my mom's brother (uncle) about the troubles my mom caused, but learned how my uncle (mom's brother) meddled with my mom's marriage and used my parents for financial gain to get by. I don't have a close relationship with any of my relatives and I've decided once I get married. I'm simply going to cut my relatives out of my life. It's a real pain in the ass being the dark cloud in the room and I am at peace with this decision.

[@katanah3195]

The third story is something I've been the kid in a few times. Mums will tend to treat anything their kids give them, especially if it's handmade, as gorgeous and priceless, simply because her child gave it to her.

[@notmydidea]

when i was young my parents would lock the door. it took me years to figure out what was going on

[@PhirePhlame]

For me, it was the Flo-Rida song "Right Round". Loved it for years before I had a clue what it was talking about.

[@Fayanora]

Retirement homes do have a surprisingly high amount of screwing going on in them.

[@ash-is-a-killjoy]

About 6 years ago, in 1st grade, I had a very weird classmate. He couldn't speak clearly, he was always distracted and messed up even with the basic instructions that our teacher gave him. I thought he was too dumb, but now, looking back, I think he was disabled. I feel extremely guilty because me and my little sister used to make fun of him. Hope he's doing okay now.

[@kawaibakaneko]

Your teacher should have explained to the class

[@Eepop_stuffs]

I used to love undertale when I was little so at some point I saw some fucking THRISTY ASS fanart of sans wearing a "Bone Zone" T-shirt. I drew a picture of him in the shirt with an ARROW POINTING DOWN on the shirt as well. I never got rid of it but I sadly haven't been able to find it in my old artwork.

[@SkiggsMoDiggs]

When I was little, I was just rhyming random words like a song for absolutely zero reason. I was just making up my own fun. When I said the word "horror", my mom gasped and instantly told me to never, ever say that word again. I was SO confused. Cut to a decade later, I am relaying the story to my dad. He tells me that she most likely thought I said "Ore" with a "Wh" in the beginning. I finally understand now.

[@barbarahecht4617]

When I was little, my mom would caution me not to sit on the cold ground or I would get 'piles'. She never said any more than that, and it was only when I was fully grown that I realized that she meant hemorrhoids, or some such nonsense. I always wondered what kind of piles she was referring to - piles of money I wouldn't turn down.

[@Hisser_76]

Short but I went to my cousins’ house, and her dog started… well, doing something on my leg. I said “Look! She’s hugging me!” And my uncle hit her off. “But she was hugging me..” I said. A few years later I remembered and realized ;-;

[@Torgo1969]

Why did that father even take his son into the stall to apply the skin cream? That's just asking for trouble. Is there a law against applying skin cream to a child in public?

[@Endigo_Vandane]

Once, when I (m) was around 6 or 7, I was at the community swimmig pool trying to reach the bottom of the pool. I would take a breath, dive down, go back up, take another breath, rinse and repeat. Two adult men approached me and offered to let me borrow a pair of diving goggles. They said they were leaving, but they gave me their address so I could return the goggles on my way home. I gladly accepted and used them for the remainder of my stay. I don't remember if one or both of my older sisters were with me at the pool and if my father was there with us or if he just picked me/us up after we were done swimming. (BTW this would have been around 1979/1980). I do remember saying I had to return the goggles. So my father stopped outside the address and told me to return the goggles. I went to ring the doorbell, the men opened the door and I gave them the goggles. They then invited me inside, saying they had some snacks and closed the door behind me. Not 5 seconds later the doorbell rang and my father was standing there saying I couldn't stay and that we had to go home. I was upset because I would miss out on snacks. We got back into the car and drove home. It took a couple of years before I realized what almost happened. Now I was never really close with my father, but that day he had my back. Thanks dad.

[@marmot418]

Story #3 is very touching in my opinion

[@comp-lete3064]

1:48 I have a sort of similar story, I don't know if it was my Dad's younger sister or if he was with her doing it but she got their mom a scarf pin with her initials on it (Just big letters on a pin) and it seems really sweet and I have it right now since my grandma passed away, but it's funny when you know her initials. BM. She never wore it, but I can understand why. (Bowel Movement, or that's what I was told) and my aunt was completely innocent of this for years I assume lmao.

[@just_a_dude_that_makes_content]

6:44 I was boutta cry until this part