Join the Fun!

In my family, it is a tradition that if somebody bends over they are going to get a swat on the behind. I figured out pretty young that this wasn't "normal" but continued the tradition anyway. At least until my son was about 4 or 5, and we were at the grocery store. A lady in the aisle in front of us dropped her can of pears, and I'll be damned if my lil' rascal didn't run up all excited and swat her on the butt. She spun around with a shocked expression while I made apology after mortified apology. She was cool though. She laughed and said, "It's okay, honey. That's the cutest guy that's swatted me on the butt in a long time." Props to her, but we still discontinued the practice at home after that.

Final score:

131points

Kristin Connon

POST

Jack Palmer 5 years ago

Yikes. You sure got lucky there!

69points

Growing up, whenever I would eat bananas my mouth would always hurt and sometimes go numb. Kind of similar to how it feels if you eat too much sour candy. It wasn't until I was 18 years old that I say to my mom 'Man, I hate the way bananas make your mouth hurt.' She then brought me to understand THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. So yeah, turns out I'm allergic to bananas.

kels369 Report

Final score:

131points

POST

Rocky Joe 5 years ago

I was expecting "peel the banana before eating". Hahahaha

105points

When I was a kid I had a tiny Sony stereo for cassettes. I really loved listening to music - and still do - and children's stories. I would however only listen for like an hour or so a day, because I thought people inside the cassettes would become to tired and upset with me.

Francisca Lobato da Fonseca Franco Madaleno

Final score:

130points

POST

Radvile 5 years ago

That's so cute :D

88points

I was probably 12 or so before I realized that not all kids spend their entire summer vacation farming. I spent my summer days weeding, picking veggies, tending hogs, cattle, chickens and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Final score:

130points

TheBoredPanda

POST

frank0ys 5 years ago

...And that's what important. You enjoyed the experience. :)

121points

My mom and aunt were identical twins. My aunt lived with us from the time I was born until first grade. I never realized until I started Kindergarten that not everyone had two moms that looked exactly the same and one dad. What a shocker.

Final score:

123points

Chris Walters

POST

Annika Hanson-Carlson 5 years ago

my mom's dad was a twin and my dad is a twin, so many twins!

36points

For the first two or three years after I was potty trained, I thought that everyone peed standing up. So there I was, a little girl with impeccable aim.

lizzyw4961ae5c5 Report

Final score:

115points

POST

Sue Knerl 5 years ago

You "go" girl!

87points

On long road trips, my parents would tell my brother and I that if we closed our eyes, we'd get there faster. Believing them, we would close our eyes and eventually fall alseep. Magically, when we woke up we were almost there, and parents got a nice quiet drive with no kids fighting! Well played parents. Well played.
Also used to think the windshield wipers magically knew when it was time to clear the windshield. Wasn't til I started driving that I learned about intermittent wipers.

Sarah Hunt Report

Final score:

109points

POST

Ladies and Gentlemen 5 years ago

Well, i could have used that, but my kids are now armed with mobile and gps and what not, they have outgrown me!

26points

My family poops big. Maybe it's genetic, maybe it's our diet, but everyone births giant logs of crap. If anyone has laid a mega-poop, you know that sometimes it won't flush. Growing up, this was a common enough occurrence that our family had a poop knife. It was an old rusty kitchen knife that hung on a nail in the laundry room, only to be used for that purpose. It was normal to walk through the hallway and have someone call out "hey, can you get me the poop knife"?
I thought it was standard kit. You have your plunger, your toilet brush, and your poop knife.

LearnedButt Report

Final score:

102points

POST

Zori the degu 5 years ago

Well, nothing bad about that! In fact, I find toilet brushes much more revolting. At least, a knife is washable compared to the disgusting brush.

53points

#10

We used to lift up our table and say "hrrrmp" every day before dinner as a family. I though everyone did it.... I found out it was only us a a friends place for dinner...

Final score:

99points

Fjord

POST

Ross Carter 5 years ago

This is worth an upvote just for its sheer randomness!

61points

#11

I grew up in the country and firmly believed that ice cream trucks were myths and that they only existed on TV shows.

samanthakylef Report

Final score:

96points

POST

Kori K. Warriner 5 years ago

Me too!! Hahaha! I have told many people about that belief! Imagine my surprise when I actually heard my first REAL ice cream truck.

52points

#12

As a child I really loved Green Mint Ice cream sauce. Me and my brother and two sisters couldn't get enough of it and would always ask for more. It wasn't until I was about 25 that I noticed it was always stocked in the alcohol section of the supermarket. When I bought this up with my partner he found it really funny. My beloved "ice cream topping" was in fact Crème de menthe, mint liquor. My parents had been giving us booze, Maybe it kept us four kids quite for 10 minutes!. It will aways be Green Mint ice cream sauce to me!

Final score:

96points

Becklass

POST

Mimi M 5 years ago

;-)

22points

#13

When I was in kindergarten, I wore my Batman costume to school EVERY DAY! Under clothes, over clothes, rain or shine. Since my mom wasn't the type to crush my dreams of saving Gotham City or to enforce gender roles on me, I was free to be Batman(without judgement) until the middle of first grade when the other girls stopped wanting to play with me.

Final score:

95points

Alan Turns 9

POST

Shruti Naik 5 years ago

Forget those girls. Go find your Catwoman!

130points

#14

We lived right outside NYC when I was young and whenever I'd be watching a movie or TV where they can see stars in the sky at night I thought it was fake because, Duh, you can't see stars from the Earth!
We moved to North Carolina when I was 9 and it blew me away that you can actually see stars there. Another fun consequence of NYC light pollution was that I also thought rain and snow clouds were brown at night - because of the orange street lights.

Cindy Plante Report

Final score:

81points

POST

Ivo H 5 years ago

This makes me sad... To think there is someone out there, who never look upon the stars, who never felt that feeling of amazement and immersion, when you lie down on your back and watch the infinite depth of the universe... Everyone should be able to try this. There are few better things than this.

85points

#15

I thought every person who get's killed in TV actually dies on set. I thought people, who weren't happy with their lives, would volunteer to die for the movie.
I always wondered, how they could find so many suicidal people who were also good actors.

Final score:

77points

Anemone

POST

Lara Verne 5 years ago

I suppose Sean Bean wasn't well- known actor back then :D

47points

#16

I always thought that the menthol in cherry halls was what was making my mouth numb, but none of the other flavours did that. I am studying chemistry, and an instructor brought in a bunch of bottles of ketones and aldehydes for us to smell, all of which are used to flavour food like vanilla or mint. One of them was benzaldehyde, which is used for fake cherry flavoring. I took a whiff and my whole mouth went numb. I asked everyone else if it did the same thing to them and that's how I found out that it wasn't the menthol, I'm actually allergic to fake cherry flavour.

Grace Morrison Report

Final score:

74points

POST

Diane DesAutels 5 years ago

It's nauseating!

32points

#17

As a kid of nursery school age, I got tired of dressing the same all the time, so I put my arms through my pant legs, wearing my jeans like a bolero vest, and I put my legs through my shirt sleeves and belted my shirt around my waist. I was so impressed with my newly invented way of dressing that I told mom I was going to teach everybody to dress that way when I went to class. She tried to talk me out of it, but finally gave in figuring I'd be embarrassed and change back.

Come the end of the day, she picked me up and there I was still wearing topsy turvy clothes, grinning and happy as a clam.

Final score:

71points

Betsy Knox

POST

Ged Maybury 5 years ago

Love it! Got a future there in fashion design, dude!

21points

#18

I have Cerebral Palsy, so I grew up with excruciating leg pain, leg casts, speech therapists, and physical therapists. When you are a kid and have to be shuttled around by various doctors, see guidance teachers to assess your development stages, and take regular medication- you think EVERY kid also goes through it- until you finally realize that your normal ISN'T normal. And that was an eye opener. As a well functioning adult I never bring my CP up, because it makes some people weirdly uncomfortable.

Final score:

68points

Tisha Bell

POST

BusLady 5 years ago

"Battle Scars" Be proud that you were strong enough to get thru years of that.

71points

#19

When I was growing up my dad would always yell out 'the phone’s leaking!' whenever the landline rang. I did not realise that this was not a common phrase until I yelled it across the room at work one day to a coworker. Everyone was so confused and worried about the phone.

k42cfc146d Report

Final score:

67points

POST

Luna Lovegood 5 years ago

'worried about the phone' 😂😂😂

85points

#20

My whole family drank pickle juice out of the jar after all of the pickles were gone. When I did it at a party, people gave me dirty looks and made rude comments. Apparently, what my family did isn’t normal...

Final score:

66points

Hannah Ashby

POST

Tamara Laney 5 years ago

My family did this too-- it's totally kosher!

86points

#21

My parents put out scotch and cookies for Santa instead of milk and cookies. They told me that they didn't put out milk so that Santa wouldn't get bloated. When I discovered Santa wasn't real I immediately put it together that my dad just wanted to drink scotch instead of milk.

katieb4d779ca5d Report

Final score:

66points

POST

Sandy 5 years ago

My Dad always told me as a kid Santa preferred Whisky and a mince pie. I tell my daughter to leave out a glass of Bayleys and a couple of Quality Street. lol.

5points

#22

Growing up, my Dad did almost every repair and upgrade to the cars, house, etc. I'm talking remodelling, car repairs, plumbing, installing appliances, rewiring the house. He build his own central cooling AC. (He put it in the old dog house....don't ask.)

So, I actually, quite literally, thought that plumbers, electricians, handymen, and the like in the movies were a combination of made-up occupations and relics of the "old days".

When I bought my own house and was too tiny and unskilled to do all that my Dad did, I was baffled. People at work ended up telling me there was such a thing as a plumber I could call. And I was thrilled to learn there were handymen!

On the flip side, I did do a lot of stuff myself: Replaced a toilet tank, replaced toilet tank innards, stained many doors and baseboards in preparation for install, repainted my car, refinished my kitchen cabinets, and many other things, myself. Always cleaned my own gutters. I also fixed my car once with a good solid twist-tie :-)

Final score:

64points

POST

Marnee DeRider (Submission author) 5 years ago

Just because I am proud, I will add that my Dad reshingled the entire house, added a roof extension over the patio with overhead lighting, and rewired the house with circuit breakers (replacing fuses) when he was in his late 70s. All himself. Now, I would have liked that he didn't HAVE to do it. And my Mom was terrified every time he got up on the roof that entire summer, but I am SO PROUD of him.

178points

#23

when I was younger my mother and I used to eat onion and blackberry sandwiches. I didn’t figure out this wasn’t normal until a 5th grade sleep over with a couple friends. Imagine their surprise when I asked for an onion-blackberry sandwich.

Final score:

61points

Marin Oewns

POST

Alia G. 5 years ago

I kind of want to try that...

55points

#24

I grew up with people that I called grandpa _____ and aunt _____ ani I didn’t realize until early into my school life that other kids didn’t have three or four grandpas. My family was just big hearted. (The “extra” family members were friends of our actual family that had lost everyone else so we “adopted” them into our family)

Final score:

58points

Jeff

POST

Jessica Temple 5 years ago

we have done the same. it's a beautiful thing. so much more love.

33points

#25

My parents and I used to play a game where I had to stop, drop and roll every time they say the word 'time', so I thought everyone does it until I was 12. I once went to my friend's house and they asked me what the time was so I stopped, dropped and rolled and hit my head on their bed.

Final score:

50points

RLLMV

POST

Lara B. 5 years ago

That is hilarious :D

50points

#26

I am of European descent. My next-door neighbors were of African-descent (family here for 100s of years, mine for less than 100). Close by, there was a large community of Hmong, Vietnamese, and Laotian refugees from the Vietnam war (many of whom fought for the US, just fyi). In my teens, we also started having refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia. To me, growing up, this was just how all neighborhoods were. I was really shocked in my late teens to learn that the mother of my sister's roommate in college (from far up north in North Dakota) had almost never seen in person a person of African descent. I had to make my sister swear to me that it was true. And now, I realize that St. Paul, MN is unusual in that it has taken in a large number of refugees. (We are a very strong community, with generally much higher standard of living than the rest of the country.) But as a kid, I just thought it was how things were. When I am in a store and see people of all European descent, I feel out of place, even now at aged 50.

Final score:

48points

POST

diane a 5 years ago

I come from, and still live in, a small town in the UK, although have lived other places. I must have been 8 or 9 before a family of colour came to the area. All us kids were fascinated and had never heard of racism.

27points

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

See Also on Bored Panda

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#27

When I was a kid I called freckles ferckels- (FER-calls) And I would say it every time and my parents didn't mind. I said this until I was about 7 when my friends older brother told me (while laughing) it was freckles. I was so embarrassed I turned red and climbed a tree and started crying.

and then I fell out...

Final score:

47points

honey beetle

POST

Ruth oro 5 years ago

Omg lmao. Idk if this was meant to be funny but LMAO

31points

#28

My dad never used to eat at normal times. It's been like that since I was little so I always thought it was weird when I went to a friend's house and their dad ate with them. Like, 'your dad eats?? Dads don't eat.

audreybeaar Report

Final score:

47points

POST

Panda lover 24 5 years ago

25points

#29

I was rather sick as a little girl and after trying a lot of different options, my mom heard about the healing powers of garlic. So each morning we would start with a tea spoon of freshly squeezed garlic juice. I somehow thought that this was a normal thing people do, but turns out no one else does it...

It did do the trick though, so I can second garlic's healing power :)

Final score:

44points

Olga Vol

POST

Tamara Laney 5 years ago

And no pesky vampires either!

74points

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

See Also on Bored Panda

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#30

We had a lot of places: malls, parks, schools, etc. named after Native American terms and phrases where I grew up. My dad took me to Neshaminy park often and would tell me "Indians" (now called Native Americans) still lived there and if I was quick enough I might see one running by. He never told me he was messing with me. Then in grade school in history class I made a total fool of myself by proudly announcing I knew where the Native Americans were and my dad was an expert at spotting them in the local park. So embarrassing!!

Final score:

43points

Shawn McDonough

POST

Ladies and Gentlemen 5 years ago

That's a pure Dad joke, right there!

36points

#31

We always hid a pickle on a Christmas three, and whoever found it first gon an extra present.

Final score:

40points

Totally a Dragon

POST

Kiwi 5 years ago

that's a German tradition. out of curiosity.. was it a real pickle or an ornament?

41points

#32

I used to gather all the kids together to play a game I made up. We had to pass through the branches of this v shaped tree in our front yard. This was the passage to the afterlife. When you went through you laid down like you were dead and then you woke up in a new world. We would play the rest of the time like we were living in the afterlife. We all had fun and no one thought it strange. Thinking about it now that was a weird game.

Final score:

40points

Betsy Knox

POST

Lisa Dee 5 years ago

Weird maybe but so creative!

58points

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

See Also on Bored Panda

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#33

I was very lucky in that my Dad fixed all our cars himself, which made car repairs cheap. We always had a few cars around, though we were lower-middle-class. So, all of us kids (there were 5 of us) all had a car to drive once we got our licenses. Since we were poorer than most of my classmates, I thought all kids at school were like that. I was shocked in high school to learn that almost all my friends whose families were much better off had no car to drive, and that they generally had just two cars, one for their Mom and one for their Dad. I felt really lucky. The most expensive car my parents ever bought was maybe $2000. I drove hunks-of-junk, but was envied by many of my classmates. At one point, we had 5 cars, 2 vans, and a rickety old motorhome.

Final score:

40points

POST

Jean-luc Picard 5 years ago

It's all about maximising what you have. I have friends in the same boat. Clapped out cars that they have fixed up that seem to outlast any other on the road. Always made the 'richer' kids jealous. Makes you wonder who is really the 'rich' one.

38points

#34

When I was a kid, I didn't know the difference between perfume and spray-on deodorant. So guess what I was always giving to my mom as a Christmas present..

Final score:

37points

Inga Korolkovaite

POST

Lara B. 5 years ago

Nothing wrong with that, when a kid doesn't know it any better :)

41points

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

See Also on Bored Panda

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#35

Just a little thing, but you know how when someone's, e.g., pouring milk in your tea, or dishing you a helping of food, they prompt you, "Say when." Well, both of my parents would always respond with, "When." I'm not sure how old I was before I finally realized that, Duh!, you're supposed to say, "Enough" or "Stop" or "Now."

Final score:

33points

Diane DesAutels

POST

Neal Evans 5 years ago

I still do it

45points

#36

Apparently it's pretty uncommon to like eating raw potatoes, but I kind of like it. Although, I've never tried to eat a whole potato (like an apple), but I've been eating little chunks of raw potato since childhood.

Final score:

29points

Viktorija Gabulaitė

POST

Zori the degu 5 years ago

Well, our ancestors probably ate them in this way until some idiot decided that it was the leaves you should eat, resulting in the myth that potatoes are always toxic.

22points

#37

I get pins and needles REALLY bad. Agony. Excruciating. Exhilarating? Bad. Only when I was in my mid-20s did I discover I have Raynaud's syndrome - a circulatory issue. Whenever I got cold I would always turn purple/blue/white but I had no idea that for other people losing circulation somewhere was just a funny feeling and that's it.

Ranynaud's also makes for really painful breastfeeding as well, apparently :/

Final score:

29points

Maria Ofar

POST

Maree B 5 years ago

I'm sorry. 💚

30points

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

See Also on Bored Panda

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#38

Having lots of pets. I grew up with 2 Bernese mountain dogs, two cats, and sometimes a fish in a small suburban house. I was always baffled when my friends only had like a hamster or one dog. Obviously every person has their own pet, right?

Final score:

29points

floof lover

POST

d r e a m w o r l d 5 years ago

Lucky. I grew up without any pets, not even one measly goldfish.

20points

#39

As a child, I couldn't stand a taste or smell of fish, so the only way of making me eat it was to let me have candies and cookies with it. Now imagine the eyes of my friends when I asked for cookies to go with a bowl of fish soup...

Final score:

29points

Daria

POST

Jack Palmer 5 years ago

I can imagine

13points

#40

When I was a child my parents were active members Social Democratic party of Finland. They also helped many different people. When Jehova's Witnesses built a new Kingdom Hall near my home my parents also helped them and talked very much about the Jehova's Witnesses. So for a long time I for some weird reason believed that also Jehova's Witnesses were a political party. I was over 15 years old when I finally realized that Jehova's Witnesses were actually a religion that is neutral to any political parties, they don't vote.

Final score:

27points

Bored Fox

POST

Bored Fox (Submission author) 5 years ago

Jehovah's Witnesses, sorry for the typos! I am not a native English speaker!

64points

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

See Also on Bored Panda

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#41

Up until I was about 7, whenever my family went to the beach, we brought snacks. Normal, right? Well, I used to pick out those cheddar and sour cream ruffle chips. Guess what I did with them? I didn't use dip, but i also didn't eat them plain. I would grab my chips, plop down on a very dry area of sand, and opened the bag. I grab a chip, scoop a huge pile of sand onto the chip, and eat it. For some reason, I thought this was normal. Wasn't until I was 7 years old that I realized nobody else did this...

Final score:

27points

Jocelyn

POST

Crazy Cow Lady 5 years ago

Why did your family let you do that?

90points

#42

When I was younger (about 5) I would bite my toes because I thought it tasted good. When I went to my first day of preschool, I took off my shoes and started to do this. Obviously everyone was confused there and grossed out, but I learned not to do that because it was (obviously) disgusting.

Final score:

27points

Olympian_ Inquisitor

POST

Hamlets twin 5 years ago

its only disgusting if you've been walking around barefoot a lot. you be you! bite dem toes

24points

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

See Also on Bored Panda

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

#43

Apparently sour cream and cottage cheese dip is not the top choice for fried potatoes, but I've been eating them that way since I was a kid and will continue to do so, despite what people tell me.

Final score:

26points

Giedrė Vaičiulaitytė

POST

caleb 5 years ago

Is a fried potato a fry? Sorry I'm American just a little lost

20points

#44

When I was a kid, my Mom would make us peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. The two combine as well as toothpaste and orange juice, but we thought this was a "thing" and would actually request it at times. I cringe just thinking about it now.

Final score:

26points

POST

Jack Palmer 5 years ago

Erk!

21points

#45

My family has always put cottage cheese on store bought pizza. It’s really good but imagine the look on my best friends face when I asked her for cottage cheese while we were eating pizza. Priceless!

Final score:

25points

Hannah Ashby

POST

Zori the degu 5 years ago

I see nothing wrong with that. I usually mix - half a pizza with some cheese and half a clean pizza.

28points

#46

Being chubby. I was always happy with my bigger frame. I was told not to care and it was normal to be bigger than everyone else. Well middle school told me I was a fat pig and I wasn’t normal. Now I’m happy and losing weight but it still haunts me...

Final score:

24points

Amaki.Bun (she/they)

POST

Betsy Knox 5 years ago

I'm so conflicted about this story so I was going to say nothing but I felt I had to say: love yourself because you're you the only you there is - big or small, short or tall

61points

#47

This is super stupid but once when I was like 7 or 8 my sister took me to a baseball game between the Orioles and the Phillies. I thought that the Orioles and Phillies always played each other and no other teams.

Final score:

23points

TheBoredPanda

POST

Kylee bettencourt 5 years ago

Its ok i grew up in a Redsox house and when i was like 5-7 i thought the yankees and the white sox were the same team

13points

#48

For the longest time, my little sis had hearing problems. She always was pronouncing things wrong (hurch for church, swapple for apple) because without much hearing, she couldn't pronouce hard consnants. She thought this was normal- until we took her to speech therepy. "But it's hurch! It's Hurch!" When we got home, she complained to our mom about "da wean wady who teach me wong wowds". (The mean lady who teaches me wrong words). She was furious when she was told this was going to be a weekly occurance.

Final score:

19points

Elizabeth Schuyler

POST

Molly Tallmadge (Submission author) 5 years ago

Why are you guys downvoting this?

9points

#49

I thought everyone owned fish as an addition to any pet they have. I mean, I grew up always having a tank of 15+ fish by my side and if anyone asked me if I had a pet I just said "Nah, I only have some fish." At the age of 5, this belief was broken. Somehow it didn't fit, ever since some people thought it's cute but said they didn't have fish. Now I have other pets as well. But the emblematic fish are permanent residents in our household.

Final score:

17points

Zori the degu

POST

Alia G. 5 years ago

Fish are lovely pets. They are very beautiful, simple, and just nice to have around.

32points

#50

When I was little, about 2-3, I had a rubber snake. It was one of the ones you'd get from a zoo gift shop. I bit off pieces of the tail, thinking it was normal, and ate it. I did this until I was about 5 when I realized it didn't taste that good. Now the snake has some of its tail chopped off.

Final score:

17points

PyroarRanger

POST

Mc’scuse me 5 years ago

I would be scared

13points