“What’s Something You Were Told As A Child By Adults That You Now Realize Is A Complete Lie?” (30 Answers)
InterviewWe all know that parents lie sometimes. From small white lies to much bigger things, probably all of our parents have 'warped the truth' at least a little at some point or another. However, some experiences are much more serious than others, and the falsities that our parents tell us end up hurting a lot or changing our understanding of the world around us.
This online user decided to get some stories from people by asking them about the lies their parents told them, and it led to all kinds of interesting tales. Some are funny, some are pretty horrible, and some might make you question why some people are even parents. If you have anything similar to share, please feel free to do so in the comment section below!
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That I can be whoever I want to be. Turns out, identity theft is a crime.
We got an interview with Dr. Rosina McAlpine, and she answered some questions about why parents lie to their kids in the first place: "There are many reasons why parents choose to lie to their kids at times. It can be as loving and innocent as wanting to share the magic and joy of believing in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy at one end, right through to wanting to protect their children by not sharing financial issues or health issues with them so as not to stress or frighten them. Then there are the lies parents make up to scare children into 'compliance,' like 'If you don't behave, we will call the police to take you to jail' or 'If you're not good, Santa won't bring you presents' or 'If you cross your eyes in the wind, they will stay like that!'"
Re: bullies.
"Just ignore them and they'll go away."
No it doesn't. It just makes them laugh so they do it more.
Bullies COUNT on you 'turning the other cheek' or 'taking the high road' or whatever else people want to call it. Because it means that there are no consequences for their actions. 'Silence means assent' is the bullies' creed, because as long as no one stops them it means it is ok for them to continue.
Hardwork will get you what you want or where you want always.
Dr. McAlpine also shared whether she thinks lying to kids is good or bad: "As a mum, I have NO REGRETS lying to our son about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. This brought our son and our whole family so many wonderful years of magic and joy. Sure, it wasn't easy when we had to tell him it was all 'kind of a lie.' Only 'kind of,' as in a way it wasn't a lie. It was a way of sharing the wonder of setting goals and making wishes, and that our wishes can come true (even if it is Mum or Dad putting presents under the Christmas tree at first). But later on in life, it provides the groundwork for setting goals, dreaming big, and allowing for miracles to happen!"
That adults know what they are doing.
31 and I feel like a chicken with his head cut off.
Pretty much everything religious.
Dr. Rosina McAlpine continues: "However, apart from Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, I do not believe in lying to our child about anything. I may withhold information if he is too young to understand - if it isn't age-appropriate - BUT I will not lie. I do my best to answer his questions as fully as I can and as truthfully as I can using age-appropriate language - even the difficult conversations of 'Will you die?' or 'Where did I come from?'"
Always trust the adults.
Yeeaaah, no.
The government is good and there to help you
then why won't the government make a minimum wage enough to pay rent 😭 (I would prefer not to have arguments in the replies please)
We also asked Dr. McAlpine what problems a person could grow up with if they are lied to too much: "Children learn their values from their parents and family. Lying to children tells them lying is OK - my parents did it, so I can do it. Hiding the truth from their children tells children it is fine to hide the truth from their parents.
Open communication from parents supports open communication from children." When asked at what age parents should start being completely truthful to their kids, the expert said: "Always... Trust builds over time... It is hard to regain trust once it is lost."
"You can be anything you want when you grow up." That's not true. Some people just don't have what it takes to be a fighter pilot, doctor or cop.
I wanted to be a dragon rider, but no, stupid discriminatory rules because some idiot thought vampires like dragon blood! Everyone knows it tastes terrible and has horrible side effects! My friend died from a dragon blood overdose, do you really think I want anything to do with that? And besides, why would I hurt a dragon?
That a degree would open all the doors and knowing about politics, history and general stuff would make me an interesting person and that socializing was a waste of time. Nowadays I work for a big4 but I have the personality of a boiled potato. And they have the nerves to ask why I don't have a girlfriend or more friends at 27. Teach your kids social skills. Studying is not everything
You’ll want kids when you’re older.
One day you’ll understand that we only spank you because we love you.
Sex before marriage will ruin you.
Homosexuality is wrong.
If you really want something the best way to get it is pray really hard.
You’ll want kids when you’re older. It's now scientifically confirmed that this is bogus in most cases. They made a big survey with thousands of people and asked them if they wanted children when they were young and if that changed when they grew older, and the consensus was that the decision is stable into aduldhood and that people who let others pressure them into having kids despite not really wanting them were regretting it
HS teachers: "That stuff won't fly in college"
College: ✈️✈️✈️✈️
Is college really that easy ??? I'm in a french university and it's a billion times harder than high school.
That you gotta have respect for you elders.... Don't get me wrong you gotta have respect for everyone but I'm only gonna give what you give me. If you are a b******e ima be a b******e
Respect is earned. I can treat someone with dignity even if I don't respect them
"Work hard and you'll get ahead." We do not live in the world our parents thought we would. It's about working smarter, not harder.
And it's smarter to go into an apprenticeship like plumbing or mechanic that pays you to learn than pay college to learn and get a degree you'll never use
You won't always have a calculator
Here's the thing. In my job, you see a lot of 'black box' users. Meaning they push a button, get a number and go 'well that must be the right answer.' But if you don't know HOW it is getting that answer, you don't know if that number really is right. Same goes even for basic math on a calculator. If you don't understand math, how do you know your calculator worked? How do you know you didn't miss enter something? Or even just that the program had a random glitch? Just because you have a calculator doesn't mean it is ok to not learn math. Further, a lot times what you are learning is not just how to do math, but how to approach problems in general. Figuring out how to solve that math problem on your homework gives you strategies for figuring out how to solve other problems in completely different areas of your life.
"If you don't react when people bully you, then they don't have power over you anymore." Because that's absolute b******t. It also encouraged my bullies to keep upping the ante and doing worse s**t until I exploded with rage/frustration, which always got ME into more trouble than it did them for bullying me in the first place. Apparently, a 'lady' is always able to hold in her feelings when she's being mistreated and fighting back against bullies isn't considered ladylike.
My daughter kicked a bully in the stomach. But not because he bullied her but because he bullied her trans friend. I wasn't sure how to respond to that story because the school didn't know about it.
"you have the worst teeth ive ever seen!" Said to 9 year-old me by a tenured dentist who had surely seen worse teeth. She probably did it to scare me into improving my brushing habits. What it ACTUALLY did was make me fear the dentist and stopped me from going for 8 years. F**k you Doctor Newton
I was just talking to my mom today about anxiety regarding the dentist/dental visits. One of the very FEW things my mom did right when I was a kid was get me used to going to the dentist for checkups/etc. when I was very young, and she picked an excellent pediatric dentist. I'm very fortunate that I've never had ANY fear or anxiety about visiting the dentist. I've never had a cavity, and I can fall asleep during dental cleanings XD My mom gets mega anxiety, as does my ex. My ex has to take Valium before an appointment just to get through it :( I feel for people who have anxiety with dentists. I guess my mom must have had a moment of actual parental care/love and didn't want me to have anxiety about the dentist, like she did.
I should listen to my mother. She was wrong most of the time.
My late mother was old school. When I couldn't take wearing my heavy Coke-bottle bottom glasses anymore, I decided to get contact lenses. I must have been about 22 at the time. I casually mentioned this to my mother, and she said: "Oh, no! Once you put those things in your eyes, you'll never get them out, and you'll go blind! I know someone, who knows someone, who knows someone's son, so for sure that's the truth!" I still wear contacts to this day. It was the best thing I ever did for my eyes.
You'd be so pretty if you just lost weight.
Ya'll are BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS STUNNING and PERFECT no matter what you weigh and I hope you realize that <3
Cracking your fingers make you get arthritis
I was told it makes your knuckles bulge. Never actually happened though. The cracking sound is not actually bones you're hearing. It's the bubbles formed in the cartilage popping that you hear. If it were your bones they would quickly erode.
"It's a sin not to go to church *every* Sunday. Remember, God is watching you."
And God is watching the church crowd go out to brunch after church and abuse the waitstaff.
I love you. Seriously. 😁 Yes yes yes!! Abuse the waitstaff or complain because the waitstaff isn't in church. Well we're here because you insist on being here
Load More Replies...I'm not a christian (taoist if I had to put a label on myself), but I always felt that 'god' would be more pleased if you spent an hour doing good than if you spent that same hour in church.
As a pastor once said... many a person goes to church and thinks about fishing - not so many go fishing and think about G*D. Who would please G*D more?
Load More Replies...I would have thought what you say and do in daily life would be ultimately what counts toward being a good and devout person rather than just going to a special building and mouthing the right words once a week. But what would I know? I'm just a grubby little atheist.
Personally, I feel if there is a heaven it will be filled with atheists. They have been the best people I know. ALL the "christians" I have known can go straight to hell.
Load More Replies...Just a guess, but I am willing to bet that my communication with God, as I am walking a nature trail speaking to him and reflecting, is better than listening a pastor, priest, or rabbi telling me a story that puts me to sleep.
No amount of go to church will get you into heaven. What you do the other 6 days is just as important.
My kids were told by my family it is a mortal sin. I left the Catholic church because I cannot subscribe to a religion that supports criminals. I don't teach my kids catholic doctrine for a reason. Mortal sin my a*s. Isn't it a mortal sin to have pedophiles abound masquerading as priests? I don't get it.
Amy Farrah Fowler : I don't object to the concept of a deity, but I'm baffled by the notion of one that takes attendance.
I think God should be watching the priests when they're alone with choirboys...
THANK YOU! Fictional beings/places/dimensions/stories don't scare me. Fuckedup twisted sci-fi fantasy horror bullshyt.
Load More Replies...The "God is always watching" stuff f****d me up as a kid, made me terrified to even *think* the wrong thing. That still messes with me from time to time, feeling like im constantly being watched is not fun
Same! One of the teachers at my (Catholic) elementary school even told us that thinking about sinning is just as bad as doing the sin for real. Combine that with me having OCD and uncontrolled intrusive thoughts, and you have the perfect recipe for ~*~religious childhood trauma~*~
Load More Replies...This s**t damaged/damages a lot of kids for life. Indoctrination of any sort is just wrong.
If you don't go to church on Sunday, how will the pastor make his millions of dollars taking 10% of paycheck to paycheck living senior citizen money?
Not only does my dad believe this, he also considers it a sin if I don't go to church on holy days of obligation.
Since, according to you, God can clearly see me where I am now, I don't need to go somewhere else so He can watch me. (And why would He be watching me, when you just know He has NetFlix. Mmm... does God share His password? And to Whom?)
Everything told me in Catholic elementary school about god turned out to be a lie. Religion is such a waste of human time that could be better spent on more productive and beneficial activities.
And we don't miss church every week at school or on Sunday.
Load More Replies...now lets not start any arguments in the comments please *everyone proceeding to start a huge argument in the comments*
Organized religion is such c**p. Do you realize there are more than 5000 "religions" on this planet? Yeah - YOUR'S is the only right one.
God doesn’t seem to be watching what goes on in the youth pastor’s office.
I feel like my parents were almost the same way with school attendance. I have lots of "perfect attendance" certificates from my early years in school. What they didn't know and I didn't realize was wrong until after I was grown up is that I even went to school when I was feeling ill just to avoid breaking that perfect attendance that was supposed to go on my permanent record that future authority figures would praise me for. I mean, I would physically hide from them that I wasn't feeling well because I kind of felt like it was on me for getting sick.
I believe in God, just not anything the church (any church) has to say about him. Einstein is supposed to have said, "God does not throw dice with the Universe". My corollary has always been, "God is not a bean counter." I believe Evil exists, but it requires a conscious act--I don't think you're going to hell for missing church, or eating meat on Friday. If so, that's not a good I want anything to do with
The CHURCHES want you to go every Sunday (and pay a 10% tithe), God is with you all the time if you want that.
F*** that s**t! The last time I set a foot inside a church was 15 years ago, as a tourist in the cathedral in cologne.
Does he watch me all the time? Everything I do? Let's test that. I'm going to get some hand moisturizer, tissues and a cactus. Let's see if he is as perverted as his preachers
If you are honest, work hard, are virtuous, and treat people well you will get ahead in life. Its bull s**t... the people who get ahead in life are almost the exact opposite
Cynicism is not bad, but should be doled out in doses. I think the healthier attitude is to not focus on what others are doing and keep going for yourself and because it’s worthy.
Just be yourself and people will like you
My mom always said "who wants to be beautiful has to suffer" while she untangled my hair with a comb. It's a Dutch saying, but it's so weird thinking about it now. It was also never said to my brothers
My mom just told me to shut up and stop moving my head when she would put my hair in tight buns for ballet class.
Go to College and you will get your dream job.....
I would much rather have a job that pays me tons of money. Fortunately, my dream job is to be a plumber, so I've got the best of both worlds!
“No harm in asking”, boy did that get me in trouble…
Well, that kinda depends on what you're asking. I wonder what this person asked.....
Women can’t cut straight lines (especially in cheese and bread) because of their elbows.
You can’t use tampons unless you’re not a virgin.
Children always have the exact same blood type as the father and If it’s different, the mother cheated.
‘Hons’ after a persons qualifications means it’s honorary and they didn’t actually earn a degree.
You can’t have measles if you’ve had chicken pox and vice versa.
I think it's more that I wasn't told anything, not how to respect people, present myself or even look for jobs. Asking my parents it was always "school was ment to teach that"
If you open the fridge for too long and the beeping noise starts beeping , the fridge is gonna explode
Lolol, I love this one! I can just imagine the parents getting so annoyed by the kids standing with the fridge door open and beeping and coming up with this gem!
That you can't be full unless you eat bread. Carbs actually make you hungrier. Protein fills you up.
Also: if you drink coffee, you'll grow a tail. Don't ask me where I'm from.
The bread line was because it was cheaper to fill up with bread. when poor you do what you can to keep hunger away.
My great grandmother was from Liverpool, and her maiden name was Harrison. My Aunt told us that George Harrison was our cousin. Turns out there were lots of people in Liverpool named Harrison, not all of them were related.
If the ice cream truck is playing music it is out of ice cream. I use it on my kids now as well.
Why? Why not just tell them "No, not this time. Sorry." or "Do you have enough from your allowance to buy it yourself?" Kids need to hear no, and learn they can't have everything just because it's there.
My parents and teachers pretty much taught me that all teasing was the same as bullying. Some of those kids were mean a******s, they were bullies, but most of them were just kids kidding around -- you know, acting like...*kids.* They teased their friends, they teased their siblings, everyone. It's how kids relate to each other. Making me feel like normal interactions with my peers was bullying made me so thin-skinned that I felt anything but an overt compliment was a personal attack. I was sweet as sugar but probably came across as a humorless prig and a total killjoy to most kids. Who wants to be friends with a spineless people-pleaser? However, it is worth noting that my parents and teachers thought I was a model of good behavior. So they got what they needed - someone who never made any trouble or tested any boundaries.
Just about 95-99% of everything I was told is wrong or ill-informed.
Something I think children are missing these days: you’re *meant* to be smarter than your parents.
Context and nuisance doesn’t mean wrong. Also, children aren’t smarter than most adults because they lack lived experience for the most part. I was abused from birth and thus very street smart, but it took me until I was in my late 20s to learn how to apply that with intelligence.
That it was illegal to drive with the lights on the inside of the car turned on
This can actually be semi-true. If the light glares on the windshield it would be considered obstruction or distracted driving. So while there is no law specifically stating that you can't drive with the inside light on, if it affects the driver then yes it is illegal.
If I keep making that face it will get stuck like that turns out I’m just ugly
If you don’t study you will become nothing. I broke my a*s studying and still I’m nothing…
Hey, don't talk like that to yourself. You're always going to be something to someone.
"When you are an adult, you will regret your childhood. It is the best part of life."
"if you say stop, the person will stop" more of an implication but basically they said that
My experience has always been that if you ask someone to stop doing something you find annoying it's absolutely guaranteed to make them do it every chance they get. ( "Could you please turn down that music, I'm trying to concentrate." -- *cranks it as loud as it will go*. )
I got this BS all through school. "I'll let this slide, but don't think you'll get away it next year..." "You can do this now, but don't think it'll happen in Middle School..." "Don't expect to get away with this in High School..." "Yeah, we'll let this go in High School, but if you think you'll get that sort of accomodation in college/the real world...(evil laugh)". Eventually, I caught on that it was more dependent on the teacher's attitude rather than anything else. Small example, in high school I couldn't remember the name of a town on a test, but I could remember everything else, even drew the diagram the teacher had the board in the margin, just to prove I had paid attention that day. Still got marked wrong. In college, similar brain fart, couldn't recall a place name, but I put as much description as I could otherwise. Professor gave me half credit.
Eat all your food to grow up big and strong. Just makes you get eating disorders
While this does not automatically apply to everyone, it DID happen to my little cousin. Many of my family members are morbidly obese. My cousin's parents are both morbidly obese. They used to tell her to "eat everything on her plate because Jesus says wasting food is a sin". They also would give her adult portions of food even when she was 5 years old. She is 34 now, is 350+ lbs, and has many, many health issues. If her liver problems or diabetes get any worse than they are now, she'll likely die within the next 10 years. I'm sad because I want my cousin to live. I don't know how to help her.
My father told me to ask my future husband if I should get my ears pierced. Lol
That I'm special lmao
Don't be like that. You are special. Don't be delusional about it, but just think. You are you. There will never be another you, there will never be another like you. That does make you special. Now does being special make you worth anything else? That's up to you.
The bible is the word of God
I don't understand people who take it literally. How can you take something literally if it is a translation? There will always be something that doesn't translate. And the protestant bible went through several versions of hebrew, to latin and then to the language of the congregation. How can you take that literally?
That good friends don’t lie for each other. Honestly it’s just a lie spread by schools to make it easier to catch people breaking the rules
Lying is not inherently good or bad. But it takes a good deal of wisdom to know *when* it's right to lie.
My dad told me we made the year of Jesus' birth year 0 because before that there was nothing worth remembering and no one bothered keeping track of time. For some reason that stuck with me and to this day I don't know if he was joking (I hope he was).
Organized Religion (as opposed to personal religious beliefs and spirituality) has a LOT to answer for.
Having to hold my breath when we drove past a cemetery.
When I was young my Grandpa fixed up a bike to give me on my birthday. It was dark blue and had a glittery “banana seat” (all the rage in the early 80’s 😋). For some reason, he told me it had been his bike but he took it through the car wash and I believed that damn story for years and told all my friends. (Why my Grandpa had a glittery purple seat, I didn’t consider! 😂) It wasn’t until a couple of years later when I started to tell someone new that I stopped and actually thought about how silly the story was! You got me Grandpa!!
Anyone else have parents that told them they would get curly hair if they ate the crusts on bread?
Yes! And one party my mum made a platter of sandwiches and cut off all the crusts for the kids... I ate so many crusts that day to try and get curly hair.
Load More Replies...The horrifying stuff always gets more upvotes, doesn't it :C
Load More Replies...When I came home crying because other kids were being mean and picking on me she flippantly said they were just jealous.
Only slightly better than what I got, "Well, what did you do?" :/ Not all people should be parents, eh?
Load More Replies...I find a lot of these are just bizarre and piece of general advice should be tempered by careful thought and good sense; rarely is it to be taken literally.
“Quitters never win” is the reason why so many people stay in toxic situations, thinking that if they try hard enough they can fix things. “Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” The stars are farther away from Earth than the moon, so if your goal is the moon and you reach the stars, you’ve succeeded and exceeded your original goal.
Aliens... "We'll come back and take you to the stars!".... Yeah... Well, all that a**l probing, and I never saw them again! Liars!
Is it just me or are these the same couple of dozen entries fanning the same flames?
My mother told me if I popped pimples on my forehead it would go back into my head and kill me. It only took me a couple weeks at most to realize there's a really hard thing called a skull that would keep that from happening.
“Be the change you want to see.” Like we don’t already have enough martyrs for good causes.
When I was young my Grandpa fixed up a bike to give me on my birthday. It was dark blue and had a glittery “banana seat” (all the rage in the early 80’s 😋). For some reason, he told me it had been his bike but he took it through the car wash and I believed that damn story for years and told all my friends. (Why my Grandpa had a glittery purple seat, I didn’t consider! 😂) It wasn’t until a couple of years later when I started to tell someone new that I stopped and actually thought about how silly the story was! You got me Grandpa!!
Anyone else have parents that told them they would get curly hair if they ate the crusts on bread?
Yes! And one party my mum made a platter of sandwiches and cut off all the crusts for the kids... I ate so many crusts that day to try and get curly hair.
Load More Replies...The horrifying stuff always gets more upvotes, doesn't it :C
Load More Replies...When I came home crying because other kids were being mean and picking on me she flippantly said they were just jealous.
Only slightly better than what I got, "Well, what did you do?" :/ Not all people should be parents, eh?
Load More Replies...I find a lot of these are just bizarre and piece of general advice should be tempered by careful thought and good sense; rarely is it to be taken literally.
“Quitters never win” is the reason why so many people stay in toxic situations, thinking that if they try hard enough they can fix things. “Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” The stars are farther away from Earth than the moon, so if your goal is the moon and you reach the stars, you’ve succeeded and exceeded your original goal.
Aliens... "We'll come back and take you to the stars!".... Yeah... Well, all that a**l probing, and I never saw them again! Liars!
Is it just me or are these the same couple of dozen entries fanning the same flames?
My mother told me if I popped pimples on my forehead it would go back into my head and kill me. It only took me a couple weeks at most to realize there's a really hard thing called a skull that would keep that from happening.
“Be the change you want to see.” Like we don’t already have enough martyrs for good causes.
