People Break Down Mysteries From Their Childhood That They Finally Solved Years Later

Childhood is full of mysteries. From things we simply don't comprehend to things our parents are tired of explaining to us--the truth is, we probably won't get a full picture until we are much older.

And that might even be for the best. Though children are naturally curious and deserve the truth, not every moment is made for a child's brain to fully comprehend.


Biggrock03 asked:

What's your childhood mystery that you finally solved years later?

Here were some of those answers.

Just One Line

My dad used to occasionally burst out with this one line of a song:

"...said Barnacle Bill the Sailor..."

Only ever that line. When I was 6 or so I asked him why and he said it was an old drinking song that was absolutely filthy and I was too young to hear the rest of it. This continued once or twice a year until I was 18.

I told him I was an adult now and he could tell me the rest of the song. I distinctly remember him looking up from the newspaper, sighing and folding it then going "The truth is I can never remember the rest of the song." And then went right back to reading the newspaper.

dabbit-secondus

That Lil Old Neurological Disorder

The weird smell that I referred to as a "stinky cheese smell" were probably a symptom of seizures.

I would happen maybe twice a year, it's not really like cheese, it's like a smell that isn't a smell. Idk how to even describe it. It was so minor parents disregarded it. I can remember it starting in 2nd grade.

I suddenly started having it a lot more as an adult when I hit 28 and got diagnosed two years later after symptoms became way more extreme. Makes so much sense now!

lavish-harmonica

Ah Yes, An Empty Box

The entire time I lived in my childhood home, my mom hid my Christmas presents in her "secret hiding place" she made it sound mystical and mysterious a few months ago a while after I moved out, she finally told me what the secret hiding place actually was, the Christmas tree box in a cabinet in the garage she would replace the Christmas tree with my presents when she put the tree up.

Dragonsbreath67

Dat Money Gone

Not the biggest mystery but...

One day my friend was over in my house playing video games. My mom called us over to her room to help flip the mattress over. So we did. We then went to another friend's house. My mom calls that friend and says, "there was two 20 dollar bills on top of the dresser, did you get them."

I said no, I asked my friend, he said no. Like 5 minutes later, my friend says if we want to go to the toy store because he has 40 dollars, in two 20 dollar bills. I say yes and we go and he buys me a yo-yo or something.

It took me YEARS to finally realize that my friend stole the money.

HurricaneHugo

There's A Song In My Head

I remember being about 8, and in the car with my dad. I was in the front seat and we were driving somewhere, and this song came on the radio. He cranked it and said something about it being the best guitar playing ever. He really jammed out, which was really uncharacteristic because he was usually so stoic. It was the only time I heard the song, and he died before I could ever ask him what song it was. When I asked around, no one knew wtf I was talking about or what song I was thinking of.


So I had this melody in my head for years, but how do you look up a song that has no lyrics? So for years and years, this song stayed on the back burner in my brain. I was afraid to forget it. Somehow this story pops up when I'm like 26 or so, chatting with my husband and we searched YouTube for "best guitar songs". After about 15 minutes, we find it. Cliffs of Dover was the song that I'd burned into my brain on repeat for 16 years. Now I jam out to it with my kids.

1thruZero

Toxique

When I was in elementary school, I always wondered what the teachers staff room was like. It seemed so mysterious - and I remember trying to get a peek anytime I walked by and the door would open.

Later became a teacher and can fully confirm they're dull, often toxic spaces full of cranky teachers complaining about students.

ktemw

At Least It Was An Accident?

When I was younger, like 4 or 5, my family had a pet turtle. One day the turtle went missing and my parents told me it climbed the wall in our backyard and went to the creek behind our house. I, being a naive toddler child, did not question this logic.

Fast forward to when I was 17 and driving with my mom in the car. We saw a tortoise crossing the street and I was suddenly thrown back to my memory of us having a pet turtle. I pulled over to save the tortoise and was all "OMG MOM TURTLES CAN'T CLIMB WALLS! WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR TURTLE?!"


Came to find out it had burrowed a hole in our lawn and my dad didn't notice it until after he ran it over with a lawn mower 😢 obviously it was easier to pick up the pieces and tell your kid it climbed the wall than admit you murdered it with a lawn mower.

TLDR: parents lied to me about a pet going missing and I found out it was brutally murdered (on accident) by my father.

DemigodApollo

A Straw As A Vaccuum

Reverse of this: As a kid, my dad would call me from the other side of the house to bring him something to drink from the kitchen. He always drank from a straw and about 1st grade, I started getting annoyed at this so I started poking a tiny hole in his straw as my own little vengeance.

I didn't come clean about this until I was like 22 years old. The look on his face was priceless. It's like he instantly snapped back to then and knew exactly what I was talking about and just said, "son of a *****... you did, didn't you?" He just thought we bought cheap straws.

steeple_fun

Sorry Dad

I visited my dad when I was 6 or 7 years old at the place where he worked, or so I was told. I remember remarking at the time, and people laughed at me, because I said it looked just like a prison. The people laughing were the guards and I was indeed visiting my dad at Terminal Island federal correctional institution where he was a federal inmate.

Grokker999

Being A Sneaky Kid

I solved a family mystery for my mom. I wasn't allowed to play console video games during the week all the way until I was 18 but some nights I'd really be craving it so I would noiselessly creep through my house into my basement where I could play video games in peace. But once every 30 times or so one of my parents would need something from the basement and I'd quickly turn off the tv monitor, hide in the guest room and pray they didn't turn on a light or notice the Xbox was on. One night I ducked into the guest room and hid behind the bed.

To my horror my mom followed me into the room and turned on the lights. I was panicking so when she started digging through the closet with her back to me I made a run for it. I nearly brushed her shirt and if she'd seen me I'd probably have given her a heart attack. But I made it and kept going all the way to bed.

About 5 years went by and my mom said something like "you're such a quiet walker" and I told her it was because of my basement trips thinking I had nothing to lose. My mom's face went kinda solemn and when I explained she said "so there really was someone down there." And she explained that she remembered that exact night and the feeling that there was a ghost in the room. Over the next couple days she'd stare into space and just say "I can't believe you were really there." She seemed to get over it but she probably checks empty rooms closer now.

Salt_Paint8157