Before children develop their prefrontal cortex and figure out all the unspoken rules of polite society, they get a brief window of pure freedom, saying and doing whatever pops into their heads.
Great for them. Not always so great for their parents. Because while that zero filter can be hilarious, it can also lead to some painfully awkward moments.
On TikTok, Trey Colbert asked parents to spill the most mortifying things their kids have pulled off—the kind that make you want to avoid public outings forever. Their replies did not disappoint. Scroll down for the most entertaining ones… and maybe send a little sympathy to these parents. They’ve earned it.

Image credits: trey_colbert
This post may include affiliate links.
Here’s a cute one 🥰: my 3 year old in the grocery store in Florida saw an old man with a white beard and white hair and grabbed him arm to say “Santa”?. The man pulled his sunglasses down and gave a wink 😜 and said he was on vacation.
Me and my son where playing monopoly we lost all the money so I printed some out off the computer and we cut it. I went to the bank a week later and the teller was counting our money and he says my mom prints it in the basement.
My son when he was 4 thanked a black man in a suit who held the door open for us by saying "thanks Obama."
A man in a restaurant told my niece he liked her Elsa dress. She replied with, “God damn it, I’m eating!”
Middle of a world wide pandemic, lockdown here in NZ so essential services only. Took my son to the supermarket with me and while waiting to pay for shopping he walked up behind the man in front of us and licked the chicken nugget tattoo on the back of his leg!
You've got a chicken nugget tattooed on your leg? You're asking for it. (Probably not advisable during the pandemic though.)
Got dragged to church by my mom. The pastor started preaching about Jesus dying and then resurrecting on the 3rd day. My son started yelling MOM THAT GUY IS SAYING JESUS IS A ZOMBIE!
Went to the local police station to get fingerprinted for a police check for a job in a hospital. My daughter ( about 5 at the time ) announces so everyone could hear……”are we here because you run all those yellow lights????” The cops just howled, I was mortified….
Is it common to have fingerprints taken for a police check for a job in the US?
After hurricane Helene hit, my daughters class wrote cards for the people affected. She told me she wrote ‘I hope you’re okay but I don’t think your house is.’
My autistic child was into organizing by color. A black family got on the elevator. She tried to move us into a pattern. They were very understanding.
My 2y old-ish son was fascinated by our black neighbour's arms... The guy was understanding about it and starts narrating about warm countries and the sun and all that. But, my son has seen the whole family before? What is this, why now? No, it was about the tattoos --- he had never seen tattoos, and this must have been one of the first sleeveless days that year!
When my daughter was 4 we were having breakfast at a restaurant and she asked the elderly lady next us why she wasn't in heaven yet.
When my son was 2 I took him to Michael’s! He saw a Muslim woman covered from head to toe. He pointed and yelled “you forgot to take your Halloween costume off” I wanted to crawl under a rock!
Mine pointed to random black man and said MOM IS THAT SNOOP DOG?!
Plot twist, it was Snoop Dogg and the parent just didn't recognize him
I was pushing my daughter in the cart walking in to Walmart. A lady with vitiligo was walking past us and she points at her saying “MOMMY COWWWW” and then she proceeded to make cow noises going “moooooo”.
I'm not a mother but i have a lil brother. We were at the airport going back home after a trip and my brother saw a heavier guy and my brother proceeds to point at him and shouts "THE PLANE WON'T FLY IF HE'S IN IT!" I wanted to bury myself when he said that.
My daughter (6yo) announced while I was presenting on a zoom call (right at the beginning of Covid) “mommy you’re wearing pants today!” So 300+ people knew at that moment I didn’t wear pants on a regular basis.
My son screaming in the middle of target “MOMMY! White people!!!” (He was talking about the mannequins)
My 3 yo at the time told an elderly woman at the drs office her brother was at home locked in a crate and wasn’t allowed to go places with us….. the “brother” she was referring to was our rottie.
My son had a rottie named Dave. Most wonderful, loving dog ever. And yes I referred to hi as my grandson!
I made the mistake of telling my son if he didn’t eat, he wouldn’t grow. He told a person with dwarfism in the checkout line at the grocery store that they needed to eat so they would grow.
I had a student (Kindergarten ages 5/6) whose parents apparently told him that if he ate too much candy, his teeth would rot and fall out. He hadn't been in preschool or daycare before and apparently was unaware that your teeth naturally fall out. His fell out at recess and he was sobbing and kept repeating "I ate too much candy. I ate too much candy! They are going to be so mad at me!" it took a good hour to get him to calm down and reassure him that it wasn't from candy and that it was supposed to happen.
My son when 10 saw a Hasidic Jew with his top hat on and shouted/pointed, “look dad, a magician!”
When my daughter was a toddler she called all Men Daddy's. She really stressed out some dudes at the grocery store.
I told my son he couldn’t eat chips until we got home. My son responded loudly, “but mom we don’t have a home.” We very much did and everybody in the store started offering housing resources.
My daughter asked the Walmart cashier (who was missing some teeth) if she ever brushed her teeth before.
I have kids asking me if I brushed my teeth because they are yellow, fairly often. Unfortunately both my genetics and the amount of tea I drink means they are quite yellow, no matter how much I brush. I don't trust whitening treatment because I don't want to weaken my teeth, so I guess I will endure the questions indefinitely.
My son was 3 or 4, saw a little person who was a local celebrity and he pointed at him from about 2 feet away and said “look at the weird baby dad.”
My son saw a man with dwarfism and started screaming “MOMMY ITS AN ELF!” We had just watched buddy the elf.
My sons was 7 or 8. We were grocery shopping and he wanted me to stop and get McDonald's when we were done. I told him we were making dinner at home. He proceeded to lift his shirt up over his head suck his stomach in so hard it went up under his ribs and cried out "YOU NEVER FEED ME!! I'M SO HUNGRY!"
Just paid for an item at Walmart and was walking out without it in a bag. My kid said loudly “are you stealing that?? We have to pay!” Even though I JUST DID.
I was hospitalized for stress got out we were at the store she says “ mom you’re out of rehab” 😭😭 I swore I felt the stares.
My son told the pediatrician when he was like 7 or 8 that “my mom doesn’t make us wear seatbelts and we duck if we see a cop “ NEVER HAPPENED and I was so speechless I couldn’t even react.
My daughter had to write a poem about me a as mom... She said she gets all the candy and sweets... cause I have diabetes... It was posted in the hall with my picture for everyone to see.
This guy had a huge birth mark on his forehead at the mall & my son asked if a dog pooped on him.
I went to school with a lad like that. An Indian student asked if he spilt coffee on his face, the lads response - "at least I didn't fall in the whole pot of it"
We were at Walmart and I told my son he better stop or he was in trouble and he said “… are you going to whoop me till I bleed” HUH YOU HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN WHOOPED.
In Walmart and a nun was in front of us and my daughter yelled "why do people come into Walmart wearing the most ridiculous things."
I'm curious, which countries and denominations have nuns that still wear the habit and veil etc? In Australia that was largely phased out in the 1990s I think. I did still see international students and lecturers at the Catholic uni I went to that still wore them though.
We visited a family member and as soon as my son walked in he said “it’s so dirty. You guys need to clean up.”
Not my kid but a girl I nannied in my twenties. I went on the elevator to drop her off at pre k and there was a woman on it who was heavy set. As the doors were closing, the little girl said loudly, “Is she fat or is there a baby in her tummy?” Longest elevator ride in my life.
"How would you tell?" ... "We come back in, two weeks tops, and we know?"
This little boy at the park had something wrong I think it was spina bifida and used his arms to get around. My son thought he was playing so he started doing the same. I got in my car and couldn't help but cry.
As adults we see mimicking somebody with a disability as a mocking thing, because somebody doing it at our age would be. But kids mimic a lot as part of developing their empathy. It may be that the kid in the story saw this boy and wanted to understand how it would feel to be him. It’s awkward for their parent because it feels wrong, but it probably speaks to the kid developing strong empathy skills
My son around 4 at the time ask a black lady why did she have chocolate all over her face.
Rural Nebraska child in the 40's, my mom's first time seeing a black person was a little boy on a bench outside a shop, waiting for his parents to come out. Six year old her insisted to her mom that they run the "muddy" child home and give him a bath so he wouldn't get into trouble with his folks. She was always protective.
My oldest son pointed to a balding man and said “he’s not wearing any hair on his head”. My second oldest son told a classmate’s mom that I said her son looked like Oscar The Grouch. He really did.
We live in an area that has a FLDS population. My middle son was about 4. He walked up to… I dunno, like the 1st wife, grabs her cart and says very loudly and clearly to her “WHYYYYY IS EVERYONE DRESSED SO FREAKY IN THIS STORE TODAY?!!!”
When my 3-year-old pointed with a bindi on her forehead and asked if the little girl had a boo-boo, I was mortified.
My 3 yo told her pediatrician “I think you forgot to brush your teeth today.”
My oldest told her kindergarten teacher that her mom and dad are cousins 🫠 I was so mortified that I sent her teacher a message informing her that we are in no way related and I don’t know what made her say that and all she said was “No worries, have a good weekend!” Which somehow made me feel more embarrassed.
Son was acting TF up in the store. i warned him multiple times to stop. he kept going so I grabbed the sleeve of his coat to pull him in closer (ya know, so i could yell at him thru gritted teeth) and he SCREAMS "AHHHHH!!! LET GO OF MY FLESHHHH!!!!"
When my mom did this and grabbed my wrist I would scream “YOURE CHOKING MEEEEEE” and make choking noises. Many little old people came to make sure the screaming child was alright.
My daughter was maybe 3 or so… getting a haircut by a beautiful black woman and asks her “How come you’re so black? You’re just like …black.” Omg I could have melted into my chair. The hairstylist was very gracious and just said, “ I was born like this sweetheart.” I looked like mom of the year I’m sure.
Children at that age are not aware that it is considered racist when you do something like this. They are just curious. When my son was 3 we went on a holidaypark in the netherlands with a big pool area and he tried to clean a black boy in the kiddies pool. They boys parents thought it was hilarious but my wife and i were ashamed. He has just never seen a black person before
I forgot my daughter’s lunchbox 2 days in a row (She’s in preschool and I brought it to her after running home). We walked into the school building the 2nd time I forgot and she loudly announced to all the parents/teachers “My mommy forgot to feed me…AGAIN!” Mortified.
my daughter would ask every man she saw if they was her dad. Me and her dad was, and still are together. She saw him daily, she just insisted on asking every man.
This one is on the parents for not having a talk with their daughter after the first time.
Every time i take my 4yr old to a store and someone politely speaks, she will say hi and then yell STRANGER DANGER. I have a slight heart attack every single time.
When I was little my mom always told us if we lied we would grow a red dot on our forehead. We were at Costco and I pointed at a man who had a bindi and screamed at him that he was lying to his face.
At pre-k graduation, the teacher was speaking about how everyone had grown over the year. She says the students learned how to take turns and be respectful. My daughter yells out “But not Bobby! He didn’t get better at any of those things!” I wanted to disappear.
Pre-K graduation? That's a thing? Graduation is supposed to be special, not a normal step to the next level. High School. College. Special things. Anything else is just nonsense.
Two heavier women were walking in front of us and my son then yells "look it's the 1000 lb sisters". I had been watching the show 1000 lbs sisters.
My son (4) told a family member “you’re as big as a house!”
I'm overweight and had a conversation with my kid that calling people fat isn't nice. So in line at Target and my kid looked at the larger person in front of us and very loudly said "SINCE I CAN'T SAY FAT, CAN I CALL HER CHUNKY INSTEAD?"
My daughter wanted a bluey character dress that was almost $35 at Walmart and I told her no so she says out loud “you never have any money for clothes”. Now the whole store looking at me thinking she has no clothes.
My five year old told the cashier my mommy doesn’t have any money as I was checking out.. and two seconds later my card gets declined.
My son squinted his eyes at a Chinese man.
"I'm sorry sir, but he does his Clint Eastwood imitation everywhere."
I was at school one day picking up my daughter and I was talking to a couple of parents, one of them was a rather a good looking dad, and I had a zip up hoodie on with no shirt underneath, so my daughter comes up to me and unzipped my hoodie all the way down so I was exposed 😢😢😢. In front of everyone
😱😱😱😱😱😱😱a real beam me up Scottie I’m in the shite again moment 😂😂😂😂
All my life my parents have told me the story about the time a rather large woman was blocking an entire isle and I said “can you please MOOOOOOOOOOOOVE🐄”
Eating at Panera with my 3 year old. He pointed at an older man a few tables away and loudly asked, “Why is that man eating alone? Did his family die?”
Eating alone should be normalised. I have spent time in cafes etc on my own, usually reading at the table, my whole adult life. I don't care and I've never heard anyone make a negative comment about it thankfully. I don't care if they say/think it, I just don't need to hear it, because that's what makes it weird.
In line at the grocery store and the lady in front of us (was on the heavy side) started to back up and my son asked why she didn’t beep…..he also had just learned that some large vehicles beep when they go in reverse. She 100% heard him.
I was picking up my little brother from daycare when he was 4ish. He was pointing to who his favorite daycare teacher was and she came over to say hi. I introduced myself and then lil bro said “this is my teacher that’s round like a basketball” 🙃💀🥲 I literally froze and had no idea what to say or do other than apologize. She thankfully laughed it off and said “kids say the funniest things!”. You best believe I had a full on talk with him about that.
One time we went to waffle house and my son told the server “the tooth fairy is coming to your house after she leaves mine.”
My some was 3 he loved construction equipment. He called Escatvators “Diggers” we are leaving a restaurant while on vacation in SC as we exit the restaurant he points acrossed the street to a construction site that had several Escatvators and yells look Dad “Diggers” as a African American family were walking up to the restaurant. I was so embarrassed. I apologized and explained the whole thing to them because they thought he said something else at first after explaining it we all had a laugh bet I was so embarrassed.
My 5 yr old son saw a large black man and “Hey Hey Hey…It’s Fat Albert!’ His fav cartoon ❤️I almost climbed under the clothes rack.
My daughter told a guy at a gas station that he was HUGE ( he was ) & all I could do is say I was so sorry. The guy looked like he was gonna cry.
When my son was little we were walking around downtown and this veteran with a prosthetic leg walked by us and my son’s eyes shot open super big and he yelled “omg mom he has a peg leg!” While jumping and pointing😑 we apologized of course….
My daughter got hurt at the park and asked if i could place a band aid on her . I said "No i don't have any " this girl took the biggest gasp and said " Do you not have any because you don't have any money ?!?!😳" i wanted to fade away
My 3 year old daughter loves karate kid (the one with Jaden smith). We went to target and we were in the men’s section shopping for tshirts for my husband and she saw a black man with corn rows, pointed at him, and goes “mom it’s karate kid.”
My niece was looking out the window and suddenly yelled "Naked man!" Her mother rushed over and saw a man jogging with his shirt off.
My mom had a childhood friend that was a mechanic nearby at the gas station, so I saw him a lot. He was born with one fully formed arm and one that was kinda stumpy with wee fingers. I apparently asked him what happened to his arm. He replied that God made him that way. According to mom, I gasped and went "Wow! God must not like you much!" He hooooooowled and I am STILL mortified at the idea that I did that. Mattie was great though.
When I was a kid and walking down the street with my mum one day, we walked past a lady with short curly dyed-red hair and I pointed and loudly said "MUM, THAT LADY LOOKS LIKE RONALD MCDONALD!". Mum loves to remind me of that story nowadays whenever I mention something my own kids have done to embarrass me.
Went to a Taco Bell with my 8 yo son. Found myself behind a guy I knew named Hiawatha. (Side note: I always loved that name.) Hiawatha was very good friends with my previous neighbor in an apartment building whose son, Jason, played with my son. I never did know where Hiawatha lived. He was just always around. Hiawatha was Black. Jason and his dad were white. So after we hug and give hellos, my son says, "Are you Jason's dad? Because you're kind of brown and Jason is kind of lightish." Two dozen people (80% Black) break out in laughter. I was slightly embarrassed, certainly not worthy of a post here, but slightly uncomfortable. But everyone laughed, so I figure it was all good. I said something lame like, "He's going to be a geneticist," and we moved on. (My son had never heard me call anyone "Black" or "White" to that time.)
My mum told my little brother that if he kept biting his nails his belly would swell up and one day it would pop. One day while on a bus a very heavily pregnant woman got on. My brother pointed at her belly and loudly said 'I know what you've been doing and you'd better stop it'.
Nobody should be embarrassed by what an observant, inquisitive kid genuinely says/asks. They says facts without judgment, try to understand the world, they are not screwed up by bias. The reaction of the adults tells more, ex if a white kid says to a POC that they're dark, the parent could be embarassed, or go "yay isn't it cool we can have so many different colors?"
quite a few of the comments were about overweight people - that's absolutely kids responding to bias - if colour is okay so should body image....
Load More Replies...When I worked in museum and my rota was on selling tickets… so many parents would say .. two adults and an under 12( under 12s were free) cue stroppy child.. for gods sake dad I’m 14.. we always laughed and never charged, th embarrassment of parents and the indignant teenager was just too good.
My youngest was in kindergarten and drew her family as me, her sister and her . When asked where her father was, she said "He's dead". Teacher ran to the office and asked why she wasn't told. The receptionist said she'd seen him in the supermarket - he wasn't dead. So the teacher asked why she'd told her he was dead and she casually said "I didn't want to draw him". That daughter was also the one while in 8th grade was supposed to tell things about their mothers. She proclaimed my hobby was napping. The next boy up's mother's hobby was kick boxing. D**n, I slid right under the desk.
My daughter was about 4 and we were at the grocery store. A very handsome young man walked by- maybe 20 something? As he passed by, close enough to touch, she pointed at him and said very loudly, “Now there’s a good looking guy!”. What could I say? I was so embarrassed. I told her not to point. He thought it was great.
Way back in the day I used to have a diet coke for breakfast. One day my then 4 yo daughter and I were passing by a liquor store which had a miller lite display and she yells and points, "Mommy, that's your breakfast!" 🙀
I remember growing up. At one time me and my brother go to use a public restroom. I head for the stall, he heads for the urinal next to another urinal someone else is using. Apparently, it was PRETTY hot outside, because I (loudly) proclaimed "BOY! My butt's sweaty!". I'm told the gentleman next to my brother had to cover his mouth to stop from cracking up.
When my nephew was around 4-or 5 he went to visit our grandma, his great grandma,. When he saw her he asked her how old are you?? She said "I'm 88" His response was , "wow, so your gonna die soon then"
The Little Chef that used to be in Camberley, early-ish 80s. "Mommy, what's a dil*o?". Instant silence, kids wanted to know, parents wanted to learn. "You know we never discuss anything between the elbows and the knees when we're eating". I was an utter tosspot of a child, so I have plenty more anecdotes. In my defence, ADHD (and probably autistic) and routinely called disruptive, stupid, dumb, etc to my face by various teachers, so I was probably acting out a lot. Doesn't excuse it, but it does mean my poor mom had to put up with *way* more whole-body-cringe situations than other parents. Sorry mom. 😳
I saw an interesting red button. I pushed the interesting red button. It was the emergency cutoff for the big escalators in Dulles International Airport (or was it BiWi? I was four...). She grabbed me, and hid me in the toilets with her for a while, while telling me to never *EVER* push random buttons that look interesting. (beat) Guess what I did at London Heathrow about ten hours later? 😉
The best part of that is the thought of hearing a woman in a ladies loo telling someone in the cubicle with her to never push interesting-looking buttons!
Load More Replies...I was six and my dad was putting ketchup on our hot dogs. His boss called up wanting to speak with him and I told him my dad couldn't come to the phone because he was hitting the bottle.
My Dad and his siblings grew up in Berlin during the Cold War, so the city was separated and surrounded by a wall. One time when they were crossing the border and had just finished being controlled, my youngest aunt loudly proclaimed: "We're so lucky they didn't find the comic books!" Those were Disney comic books, which were illegal to bring into East Germany
I went to kindergarten to pick up my then 3 yo child. The teacher then proceeds to tell me that he said a very loud and heartfelt "f**k" while playing with other children. When she told him that it wasn't a very nice thing to say he candidly replied "But why? My mom says it all the time"
My mom had a childhood friend that was a mechanic nearby at the gas station, so I saw him a lot. He was born with one fully formed arm and one that was kinda stumpy with wee fingers. I apparently asked him what happened to his arm. He replied that God made him that way. According to mom, I gasped and went "Wow! God must not like you much!" He hooooooowled and I am STILL mortified at the idea that I did that. Mattie was great though.
When I was a kid and walking down the street with my mum one day, we walked past a lady with short curly dyed-red hair and I pointed and loudly said "MUM, THAT LADY LOOKS LIKE RONALD MCDONALD!". Mum loves to remind me of that story nowadays whenever I mention something my own kids have done to embarrass me.
Went to a Taco Bell with my 8 yo son. Found myself behind a guy I knew named Hiawatha. (Side note: I always loved that name.) Hiawatha was very good friends with my previous neighbor in an apartment building whose son, Jason, played with my son. I never did know where Hiawatha lived. He was just always around. Hiawatha was Black. Jason and his dad were white. So after we hug and give hellos, my son says, "Are you Jason's dad? Because you're kind of brown and Jason is kind of lightish." Two dozen people (80% Black) break out in laughter. I was slightly embarrassed, certainly not worthy of a post here, but slightly uncomfortable. But everyone laughed, so I figure it was all good. I said something lame like, "He's going to be a geneticist," and we moved on. (My son had never heard me call anyone "Black" or "White" to that time.)
My mum told my little brother that if he kept biting his nails his belly would swell up and one day it would pop. One day while on a bus a very heavily pregnant woman got on. My brother pointed at her belly and loudly said 'I know what you've been doing and you'd better stop it'.
Nobody should be embarrassed by what an observant, inquisitive kid genuinely says/asks. They says facts without judgment, try to understand the world, they are not screwed up by bias. The reaction of the adults tells more, ex if a white kid says to a POC that they're dark, the parent could be embarassed, or go "yay isn't it cool we can have so many different colors?"
quite a few of the comments were about overweight people - that's absolutely kids responding to bias - if colour is okay so should body image....
Load More Replies...When I worked in museum and my rota was on selling tickets… so many parents would say .. two adults and an under 12( under 12s were free) cue stroppy child.. for gods sake dad I’m 14.. we always laughed and never charged, th embarrassment of parents and the indignant teenager was just too good.
My youngest was in kindergarten and drew her family as me, her sister and her . When asked where her father was, she said "He's dead". Teacher ran to the office and asked why she wasn't told. The receptionist said she'd seen him in the supermarket - he wasn't dead. So the teacher asked why she'd told her he was dead and she casually said "I didn't want to draw him". That daughter was also the one while in 8th grade was supposed to tell things about their mothers. She proclaimed my hobby was napping. The next boy up's mother's hobby was kick boxing. D**n, I slid right under the desk.
My daughter was about 4 and we were at the grocery store. A very handsome young man walked by- maybe 20 something? As he passed by, close enough to touch, she pointed at him and said very loudly, “Now there’s a good looking guy!”. What could I say? I was so embarrassed. I told her not to point. He thought it was great.
Way back in the day I used to have a diet coke for breakfast. One day my then 4 yo daughter and I were passing by a liquor store which had a miller lite display and she yells and points, "Mommy, that's your breakfast!" 🙀
I remember growing up. At one time me and my brother go to use a public restroom. I head for the stall, he heads for the urinal next to another urinal someone else is using. Apparently, it was PRETTY hot outside, because I (loudly) proclaimed "BOY! My butt's sweaty!". I'm told the gentleman next to my brother had to cover his mouth to stop from cracking up.
When my nephew was around 4-or 5 he went to visit our grandma, his great grandma,. When he saw her he asked her how old are you?? She said "I'm 88" His response was , "wow, so your gonna die soon then"
The Little Chef that used to be in Camberley, early-ish 80s. "Mommy, what's a dil*o?". Instant silence, kids wanted to know, parents wanted to learn. "You know we never discuss anything between the elbows and the knees when we're eating". I was an utter tosspot of a child, so I have plenty more anecdotes. In my defence, ADHD (and probably autistic) and routinely called disruptive, stupid, dumb, etc to my face by various teachers, so I was probably acting out a lot. Doesn't excuse it, but it does mean my poor mom had to put up with *way* more whole-body-cringe situations than other parents. Sorry mom. 😳
I saw an interesting red button. I pushed the interesting red button. It was the emergency cutoff for the big escalators in Dulles International Airport (or was it BiWi? I was four...). She grabbed me, and hid me in the toilets with her for a while, while telling me to never *EVER* push random buttons that look interesting. (beat) Guess what I did at London Heathrow about ten hours later? 😉
The best part of that is the thought of hearing a woman in a ladies loo telling someone in the cubicle with her to never push interesting-looking buttons!
Load More Replies...I was six and my dad was putting ketchup on our hot dogs. His boss called up wanting to speak with him and I told him my dad couldn't come to the phone because he was hitting the bottle.
My Dad and his siblings grew up in Berlin during the Cold War, so the city was separated and surrounded by a wall. One time when they were crossing the border and had just finished being controlled, my youngest aunt loudly proclaimed: "We're so lucky they didn't find the comic books!" Those were Disney comic books, which were illegal to bring into East Germany
I went to kindergarten to pick up my then 3 yo child. The teacher then proceeds to tell me that he said a very loud and heartfelt "f**k" while playing with other children. When she told him that it wasn't a very nice thing to say he candidly replied "But why? My mom says it all the time"
