ParentingAUG 12, 2023

50 Weirdest Lies Told By Parents That People Caught On To Way Too Late

Dominyka Proškėnaitė and Justin Sandberg

192

Most of us have that moment, often later in life, when we realize that some tidbit of information our parents gave us was, in fact, entirely fabricated to achieve some outcome, distract us, or just create a little havoc.

So some netizens decided to ask the internet to share their best examples of white lies they discover later in life. Be sure to upvote your favorate examples and share your own stories in the comments section below. We also got in touch with Natasha Devon, a writer, presenter & mental health activist to learn a bit more about how kids perceive things.

More info: Natashadevon.com

#1

50 Weirdest Lies Told By Parents That People Caught On To Way Too Late

When I was really young my mom used to tell me a red dot (only visible to moms) would appear on my forehead when I lied. I used to cover my forehead when lying. Well played mom.. well played.

SatansPetGoat, Monstera

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357points

#2

When I was a kid my parents told me and my brother about the candy witch. She was a nice witch who came on Halloween night when you were sleeping and took most of your candy, but left a present in return. So my brother and I got to keep 10 pieces of candy and the rest went to the candy witch, and when we woke up we had awesome presents waiting for us. And that’s how my parents got to eat all our candy and prevented us from eating a s**t ton. Super smart and will be using on my own kids.

kaseythedragon

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278points

#3

To be quiet when hunting mushrooms because they would go back into the ground. Was in my early 20s before I discovered it was a ruse to just get us to shut the hell up.

MethodMZA, cottonbro studio

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265points

Bored Panda got in touch with mental health writer, presenter, and activist Natasha Devon to learn more about how a kid’s psyche develops and what influences it. “Our teenage years are such a crucial time in our development. There are the physical and hormonal changes we go through but there are all kinds of interesting things going on neurologically, too.”

“That’s why our experiences during this time tend to be magnified and imprinted on our minds in a way other time periods aren’t. I write young adult fiction (my debut novel, Toxic, which is set in a high school, was published last year and the sequel, Babushka, is out in October) and coming-of-age stories have a special resonance, I think. Even the most mundane happenings feel like an adventure.”

#4

My grandma told us that smelling each other’s farts would give us enhanced strength and agility. Worst Christmas ever for us, funniest Christmas for her.

Donald_Keyman, cottonbro studio

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257points

#5

We were on a road trip one summer and I asked my dad what the purpose of rumble strips was.

He told me they were for blind drivers.

anon, Eddy Silva Official

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253points

#6

My father always said the animals on the side of the road were just taking a nap because the road was warm.

Donald_Keyman, Esra Korkmaz

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235points

Of course, realizing late that something was a white lie or even a more blatant lie can make an adult question a lot. We do tend to think the decision we make as teens have a lot of impact and generally these are decisions made with limited information, so we were curious to hear if our childhood choices really did have that much influence on our futures. “It’s weird how you can be completely different but also basically the same as you were in adolescence.”

“I work with teenagers in my day job (visiting schools and colleges and giving talks and doing research on mental health) and whilst they are definitely not the finished product and they’re going to try on several different identities before they find out who they are, you definitely get a sense of the essence of the person. You can see the building blocks they are working with.”

#7

If we didn't brush our teeth before bed mice will climb into your mouth and eat the food between your teeth. That's why your mouth tastes gross in the morning when you don't brush, the mouse poops in there

canada_mike, Ketut Subiyanto

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233points

#8

My son had a patch on his arm that was a hairy birthmark. I told him that he'd actually been born as a puppy and that gradually he turned into a boy. He lost his bark and used words instead, that he learned to walk on his back legs and to stop chewing bones and enjoy people food instead. The story was very elaborate, and then I dramatically grabbed his arm and pointed to the birthmark on his arm and declared this was the proof because it was the last bit of puppy skin left on him. He really believed it for a while and was delighted to have been a puppy.

Tobybrent

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223points

#9

My mom always told my brother and I that the car couldn’t work if we didn’t latch our seatbelts. She even faked a break down and pulled over on the side of the road when she caught us trying to sneakily unlatch to test her claim lol

fiona_may_97

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210points

“When I hang out with the friends I made at school they know me in a way that friends I made more recently cannot. There is absolutely no BS because they understand the essence of me. I feel the same about them – They’re parents, now and have grown-up jobs. They have grown and flourished in so many ways, but their fundamental qualities haven’t changed.”

#10

Dad told me those were tomatoes he was growing in the basement. They were not tomatoes.

ghunt81

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186points

#11

Toys R Us is closed when the R is backwards.

keyser_sosaveme

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186points

#12

Those big rolls of hay on farms...my dad always told us they were elephant cocoons.

hornedgirl, Nikolett Emmert

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178points

“Anyone who shaped our life journey is going to be interesting. First loves are always intriguing. That’s especially true if things didn’t end well. I think some people feel resentment if they imagine that their ex-partners are being a better version of themselves – one they potentially had a hand in creating – with new beaus! It’s also a way to imagine ‘What if’ – all those Sliding Doors moments where our life could have turned out differently.” she shared with Bored Panda.

#13

That if I kept hitting the horn in the car, it would run out of 'beeps' and we'd have to buy a new one and we couldn't afford that. I didn't know any different until I was 17 and learning to drive..

anon, Wavy_ revolution

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175points

#14

My dad told my brother that growing in chest hairs is an excruciatingly painful process. Days later, as my brother walks past my dad in the living room, my dad clutches is chest and screams, "AAARRRGGHHHH! Another god damn chest hair!" Scared bro sh**less. He believed it until he grew in his own.

OneEyedWilson

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174points

#15

My mom said they only named hurricanes after girls otherwise they would be himicanes.

Donald_Keyman

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171points

Ultimately, understanding the past can bring peace and closure, as well as some degree of entertainment, but it’s not necessarily the key to unlocking something special in the present. In most of these cases, the real value was reminiscing on the clever, weird, or just a bit of fun. And if you want to hear more from Natasha Devon, you can find her book here, her website here, her Instagram here and you can listen to my LBC show every Saturday.

#16

My sister hated eating fish when she was little, so whenever my parents fed it to her they told her it was "aquatic chicken". universal thing.

Frostillicus8711

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161points

#17

That the mannequins in clothing stores were kids who didn't behave and were taken to the "dungeon" in the store. Where they would promptly be made into a mannequin...

r35h93, Kitti Incédi

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157points

#18

My parents when I was kid (starting from the time I was about 4), told me I was adopted from the zoo. Told my brothers and my entire family to tell me the same damn story. The reason they said this is because my tailbone sticks out farther than it should. (IT IS WEIRD. I KNOW IT. DONT MAKE FUN DAMN IT). So when my third grade teacher asked me to bring in a photo from where I was from. I moved to Florida from New york and I brought her a picture from one of the zoos up there. I explained the story about how my dad stole a monkey from the zoo. Cut off my tail just far enough so I became human.

Needless to say she called my parents and they then had to explain to me i wasnt adopted from the zoo.

invincibleirondani

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154points

#19

I was born with a full head of hair and my mom said that she knew I would have lots of hair because she would cough up hairballs while she was pregnant. It took until high school anatomy class for me to realize there is not a direct connection from your uterus to your throat. Also women don't cough up hairballs

tikiwooki

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153points

#20

My parents got divorced somewhat early on, so my mom spent years being a single mother with four kids. Unsurprisingly, we were poor and didn't have dessert all that much. When she would be able to bake a cake, we were forbidden to run or jump in the house because that would make the cake "fall" and be ruined. Of course we weren't willing to mess that up, so we would be quiet for an hour - which was exactly the intention.

Only somewhat ashamed to admit, I was in my early twenties, relaying this "fact" to my girlfriend, when it hit me what she had done.

middleagedkid

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144points

192