It's so easy to lie to kids. You could argue it comes from a lack of respect, taking their minds for granted and assuming they couldn't handle the truth of the situation. Or, maybe it's because you don't think what question they're asking is worth your time, so you make something up. A harmless little white lie, what's the worst that can happen?
Turns out, kids have pretty solid memories, and if you life to them they'll talk about it on the internet when they're older.
Reddit user, u/DrinkingSoup, wanted to know what you learned later on in life when they asked:
What's something stupid an adult told you as a child that you discovered was totally not true?
There Are So Many Better Years Ahead
description read GIF
Giphy
"High school is the BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!"
The hell it is. F that entire decade between 8 and 18. They're some of the most uncomfortable, challenging, and difficult years of a human life. It gets WAY better in the 20s and 30s, though still challenging in some ways.
If you "peak" at 16, you're selling yourself SO short!
Santa Doesn't Always Deliver
My uncle told me that santa would come out of the sink since I didn't have a chimney in my old house.
And that he was going to by me a ATV.
And 10,000 dollars :(
If This Were True, This Sounds Like The Beginning Of A Horror Movie
Eating watermelon seeds will lead to a watermelon growing in your stomach.
As a child, I took this pretty seriously for a while. LOL.
*stares at pile of unplayed video games
"You will play video games as much as You want when You grow up"
Think We All Heard This One
That when the backseat light in the car is switched on, the driver is legally not allowed to drive cause it is the cause of many accidents.
Ouch.
I was told my other grandma "went to china to look for her knitting."
This wasn't true, she's dead
Well, Kind Of, But, No
Everytime you run west you slow the earth's rotation a little bit and the moon moves further away.
This is actually 100% true, but the amount is so small it's like saying dropping a kool-aid packet in the ocean is going to change how it tastes.
The Sad Thing Is It Doesn't Matter Either Way
That if you leave a google window open and idling on your desktop it exclusively leaves your computer open to internet hackers
Just Don't Be High. Problem Solved.
My dad told me the vacuum would suck up my toes. I know that won't happen but I still wear slippers when I vacuum
My dad has a story about vacuuming when he was younger and he was super high, and vacuumed over his toe and the roller rolled it in and broke it, so there may be a little bit of truth here!
We're All Kind Of In The Same Boat
"Get good grades in school and you'll succeed in life?"
[deleted]
Conversely "if you don't do well in school now you'll struggle all tour life".
Jokes on them, we're all struggling regardless.
This Isn't How Vikings Are Born
homer simpson apple GIF
Giphy
that if u shave your beard grows thicker
I grew up in a salon because my mom is a stylist and this drives me insane. People try to tell me this bs all the time and when I challange them, I'm the crazy one of the group. More people believe the rumor than know the truth.
Thanks, Bro
My oldest brother (he's 21 years older than me) told me that head-lice burrowed through your scalp and into your brain, and that's why I was so stupid.. thanks bro.
You Descend From A Long Line Of Kings And Queens
My parents weren't supposed to be married so they used to tell little me that I would've been the child of either my mom and some other man or my dad and some other woman and as a kid I used to imagine one of them being my aunt or uncle instead of my parent and laugh, it wasn't until I grew up and took biology I realized I only exist because of those two specifically lmao
Why Do We Lie To Kids?
I was on a road trip and my grandparents told me that the people in the banana fields were banana benders. So one day at school I had a straight banana and I took it to my teacher and said "Mrs they forgot to bend my banana". I can only imagine what she was thinking when I explained to her what a banana bender was!
Feel Like This Is A Really Good Lesson For The GOP
Respect your elders.
I heard this all the time. I thought elders with more life experience should be respected more. Older people in families, grandparents, etc.
Right up until I was betrayed by one of these elders and I opened up my eyes to the deceit that people hold in their hearts. Face to face they're all smiles, but behind your back, they are, for fail of a better word, quite evil.
Now: your age is irrelevant to the respect that I should give you. Show me that you have a good heart, and you deserve my respect. Your respect will not be inherently given... But earned. And those people who have a good heart, do not even have to think about earning my respect, because it comes naturally through their words, actions, and general demeanor.
This Is Just Called Lying
As a kid, My dad told me his phy-ed teacher made him write a ten-page essay about his shoelaces as punishment. It must have been coercion for me to behave myself.
I asked him about it as an adult, and he had no idea what I was talking about.
Doing The Butt Bump
Thunder is the sound of two clouds bumping into each other.
My parents said it was giants throwing rocks, but they weren't being serious. I had read the Hobbit and they were referencing that. I actually knew the real answer because I liked reading the children's non-fiction section at the library.
Definitely Not How Churches Should Behave
We were guilt tripped in our church. They told us we should be able to hear God's voice. If we couldn't, we had to pray harder to remove all sin from our life.
I remember being at a 24/7 prayer camp than ran for a week. I remember sitting there for about four hours. Finally an "aide" asked me if I could hear God yet. I told him no. He said I wasn't praying hard enough and I hadn't revealed all my sins to God yet.
I was done with church after that trip.
There's A Slight Difference Between The Two
That I was smart, when in reality im just not stupid.
Sometimes, it's better to be not stupid. Less expectations.
Turns out that being smart does not equal success in any way. You are much better off being average and lucky. Just smart enough to see opportunities, that's all you need.
Kids Are Smarter Than You Think. Give Them Credit. Tell The Truth.
talking homer simpson GIF
Giphy
Why has nobody in this thread mentioned the cab light in cars? We were all told it was illegal to turn on the light.
Why do adults do this? I never knew this was so common until I joined reddit. My mom just told us it distracts her while driving and so we didn't turn on the lights. Seems simple enough
Because people are lazy and think children are inherently stupid or too rebellious to accept a simple explanation. We've had to explain a couple times to our kid that the light can't stay on because it's a distraction.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
***WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!***
I can't think of anything hilarious at the moment. Make us LOL.
Lady
Shocked Oh No GIF by Yêu LuGiphy"I have this friend, love him to bits, but his wife has a tendency of just constantly showing everyone pictures of their son at every social event. At the start it was understandable, but now I'm just like 'Lady, it's been two years; they're not going to find him.'"
UnoriginalUse
at 9am...
"Not the most morbid but I love Anthony Jeselnik’s story about his neighbor who has Alzheimer’s. 'One of my next door neighbors is a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s. And every single morning at 9am he knocks on my door and asks me if I have seen his wife.'"
"'Which means that every single morning at 9am I have to explain to a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s that his wife has been dead for quite some time. Now I’ve thought about moving. I have thought about just not answering my door in the morning. But to be honest, it’s worth it… just to see the smile on his face.”
dreagan021
Comedy?
"Why can't orphans play baseball? They don't know where home is."
GW2RNGR
"Why can't orphans play tennis? They get confused when they hear love."
JayDub506
People who make comedy are evil. LOL.
The Darkness
That 70S Show Reaction GIF by LaffGiphy"Dark humor is like food; not everyone gets it."
storm_the_castle
God Laughs?
"A Holocaust survivor dies and goes to heaven, where she meets God. To break the tension she tells God a joke about the Holocaust, but God doesn’t laugh. The lady shrugs and says 'I guess you had to be there.'"
“'I guess you had to be there' is a common expression used when someone doesn’t laugh at a joke. It means that the comedy may not translate without the context of the situation."
"In this case the Holocaust survivor is saying it, meaning that during the Holocaust God was nowhere to be found. It’s not really a joke about the Holocaust, but the absurdity of belief in a benevolent God. Hilarious right?"
semimillennial
Oh Baby
"How many dead babies does it take to fix a light bulb? More than 3 cause my garage is still dark."
sirnibs3
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Because I don't know what it says about us as people if we laugh. Oye.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Liam_Tang asked:
"People who've divorced, aside from adultery, what were the irreconcilable differences that ended the marriage?"
You think you know a person when you walk down the aisle.
These Redditors were in for a rude awakening.
Pet Neglect
"My wife divorced her ex for many reasons, but the final straw was when she went out of town for a few days, and when she got back he had not fed or given water to the dog. The dog lived a long and happy life after that."
– StrangeCrimes
Obsessed With A Crush
"Not me, but I had an old coworker that divorced his wife for spending their entire savings on candy crush and games of the same type."
– Hexis40
Compatibility Musts
"ITT: Intimacy (sex/romance), beliefs (religion/spirituality/politics), kids, and I haven’t seen it yet but it’s coming: finances."
"The big four. You REALLY need to discuss these things in detail BEFORE getting married."
– rabbiskittles
Physical violence is a legit reason for people to peace out of a relationship.
The Flattening
"She threatened to hit me with a hammer."
– michaelrohansmith
Hitting The Bottle
"She became an abusive alcoholic. It was sad but I had to get out."
– diegojones4
Emotional pain is too damaging to recover from.
Truth Hurts
"She told me as we stood in front of the judge ending our 7 year marriage, 'I never loved you, I just wanted kids.'"
– Pinch_Dogs
Can't Fix Angry
"She was beautiful/smart but an angry angry person. I thought I could be sweet to her and 'fix' that. Heh. She kicked the crap out of me emotionally. Wife II has been a walk in the roses for 32 years now :)"
– lowlandr
A change of heart is worthless if comes too late.
"We Could've Had A Nice Marriage
"He could not understand that my wants and needs were as important as his wants and needs. We tried to make it work for 7 years. During that time, for things that were really important to me, I tried explaining logically, asking nicely, begging, crying, yelling, passive aggressiveness... cycled back through all of these options multiple times."
"(If I knew something was important to him, I would do that. For example, he was really into sports, so I went to all his events, even though that is not at all my thing.) When I finally threw up my hands and told him it was time to get a divorce, he suddenly panicked and said 'What can I do? Do you want me to do half the chores? I'll do it! Do you want me to get a job? I'll do it! Do you want me to buy you presents for your birthday? I'll do it!'"
"So, in other words, he could have been doing that all along, but just couldn't be bothered. That made me so angry. We could have had a nice marriage that we both enjoyed, but no, by the time he saw the light, that ship had sailed."
"We are both happily remarried now (to different people) and I joke that his new wife owes me a thank you note. It was his experience with me that taught him to listen to her and take her needs seriously."
– Bluebird-True
"What Can I Do?"
"My ex was exactly like this. I didn't marry him but when I told him let's break up, he went all like, what can I do? Let's get engaged, let's look at houses, etc. Basically all the pre-marriage topics that we should be discussing about after being together for 7 years."
"I got so angry and straight up told him it's too late... I don't need you anymore."
– gudetarako
As much as a couple wants to stay together, unforeseen circumstances can eventually tear people apart.
Very few people can maintain healthy long-distance relationships.
When a new job opportunity takes a significant other away, would you begrudge them for wanting a better position to earn more money? Or is it better for them to reluctantly turn down the opportunity so they could stay with you? Do either scenarios breed resentment?
These were questions I've often asked myself with past relationships, and my answers varied depending on the person I was with.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.