Reddit user i_cant_see_my_ears asked:
"What is something your parents engrained in you as a child that you now realize is ridiculous?"
Not An Allergy
"That I was allergic to sand (5 years old)."
"She just didn't want to clean the sand off of me and my clothes."
-Aperture_Kubi
"This is sad to me. There is so much fun to be had by kids in the sand."
-Electrical-Pie-8192
No Wizardry For You
"Less of a direct rule, but as a kid I wasn't allowed to watch or read Harry Potter because she thought stuff like that was bad... and then when I was 18 I saw her and my nephews watching Harry Potter in her house. She actually apologized to me for not letting me watch it as a kid because she thought it was a lot worse than it was.'
-ItsNinjaBoy
"My mom was similar. She didn't let my brother and I read Harry Potter as kids because she bought into the Satanic Panic surrounding the series. When we were older, she decided to give it another try from the viewpoint of someone who wasn't constantly panicking about everything in an attempt to shield her young children."
"She loves Harry Potter now.'
-BrittB14
"My Mom wouldn't let me watch 'The Addams Family' in school. I hate to sit in the hall. She's a wonderful mother, just got caught up in the 90's "satanic" hysteria..."
-gonzoisgood
Correlation Does Note Equal Causation
"That cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis. Not true at all. I found this out on Reddit last week after 30+ years of thinking it was true."
-1980pzx
"It's a good example of third cause fallacy."
"Cracking knuckles is indeed correlated with arthritis, but it doesn't mean it causes it, what it ends up being is that manual labor that is hard on joints and leads to arthritis also leads to an urge to crack knuckles."
"Basically, people see that B and C are correlated and assume that B causes C, when really what's going on is there's some other thing, A, where A causes B and C"
-bisforbenis
You Really Don't Have To Eat The Crusts
"Bread crust has all the nutrients. 😂"
-kre8ive1
"Well sure, it's like with all fruits and vegetables, the skin is the healthiest part! It's because when the bread is growing on the bread vines out in the bread fields, the crust absorbs all those good nutrients from the sun and the soil. It's just science!"
-Holybartender83
"My mom told me crusts were what helped me grow and I wanted to be tall so I immediately started eating my crusts and my sisters crusts (she was too little to be reasoned with)."
"I'm tall now, and my sister was always shorter than me, so I'm not gonna say my mom was wrong 😆"
-angry_amethyst
Talking About Sex Is Important
"'Sex' was a taboo word in our parents' house."
"We could not ask questions or comment on sex in any way or at any time, no matter what. It was as if sex didn't exist - a subject alien to daily living."
-Back2Bach
"I was afraid to tell my mom I was pregnant, and I had been married for two years."
-Lucinnda
"I'm glad I'm not the only one like this. I've been dating my SO for like... four years now. We live together. We're talking about marriage and possibly having kids. And it gives me so much anxiety just THINKING of having to tell my parents I'm pregnant. I don't think i could handle the shame, even if I was MARRIED. What the f**k does that say about our upbringing lol"
-Langoustina
No, It Doesn't
"Hair grows back faster/thicker after you shave it for the first time."
-debq
"Yep my mom told me that when I was young and believed it back then."
-Tracylyn8787
"My mom legitimately believed it. Presumably she was told the same. When I hit puberty and she gave me a razor etc., she specifically told me not to start shaving my upper leg because my hair there was light/fine enough to not need it. Then one day my contrarian self was like 'oops I forgot' and she was like 'welp I guess you have to shave above the knee for the rest of your life, have fun with that.'"
-debq
Just Suck It Up
"If you hate your job you just have to suck it up and make the best of it. Don't complain because you'll be pegged as a troublemaker, and if you quit you'll be seen as flaky and nobody else will hire you."
"This nugget has caused more damage to my physical and emotional well being than anything else. You really don't want to hear their views on staying in an unhappy, dysfunctional marriage (they're similar)."
-Johhnymaddog316
"I heard this from my Boomer parents, and in my career field, you pretty much have to change employers every few years to get a decent raise. The thing that blows my mind is I've explained this to my mother, and she still clutches her pearls when I tell her I'm looking for work elsewhere. "'What about your BENEFITS?!'"
"'This new employer says they'll match them AND pay me more.'"
-Bobcatluv
This One Is So Widespread
"You have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you go back in the pool, otherwise you'll get cramps and drown."
-primitivedreamer
"We were at someone's house with a pool. as a kid and they would set an alarm. One of those spinning ones that dings. All the kids would gather round and watch it. Tick tick tick. Not a minute too soon or death!!!"
-MorePieForEveryone
It's Okay To Ask Him
"That as a girl, I should never be the one to reach out to the guy first, he must be the one to make the effort first. (Ex: if I want to hangout with a boy I like or even simply text him, I need to wait for him to text me or reach out to me first) it really messed up how I talk to guys I'm attracted too, because I'm 23 years old so I can do what I want when it comes to guys but I sometimes still have this mindset."
"The crazy thing is now my parents wonder why we don't even reach out to any guys we are interested in lol"
-hitagiss
"I told a guy 'You're really cute, do you want to come on a date with me?' We're still married."
-Alohomora95
"I was already 'seeing' this boy (we were teens, hadn't even kissed yet) and I rang him one afternoon for a chat. Mum found out and said with a gasp 'you can't be chasing boys!'"
"Maybe in her generation where they went to Friday night dances and were courted by multiple men until they picked the most gentlemanly and career-minded suitor to make babies with. That doesn't happen any more Mum! We aren't lined up along the wall in our best dresses like a row of prizes."
-Lucifang
That's Not How It Works
"You catch colds simply by being exposed to cold. For some reason I just never questioned the idea that temperature itself caused viruses, but it's such a ridiculous notion once you think about it!"
-SendMeNudesThough
Sometimes parents just repeat the things their parents told them without questioning, but that can lead to everyone being misinformed. A healthy dose of skepticism can do a lot of good.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
