People have been sharing the weird things their family did that they thought was normal – 17 tales that left people stunned
No two families are the same. But some are certainly more different than others.
It’s not until you grow up and get out into the world that you realise how peculiar your family might have been the entire time. Just take the replies to this question set by LordToast09, who headed over to r/AskReddit to ask:
‘What’s something your family did that you assumed everyone’s family did—until someone looked horrified?’
Here are the weirdest answers (and please be warned, some of them are quite disturbing).
1.
‘My mom was extremely paranoid about fire, so every night everything got unplugged. So as a child at my first sleepover, and wanting to be a helpful guest, at bedtime I went around unplugging things. The lamps, the tv, the stereo, the washer, the dryer. My friend’s mother thought I was insane.’
-Maleficent_Scale_296
2.
‘Having an extremely antagonistic relationship with a sibling. Like, he chased me down the street with a knife kind of thing. Parents didn’t really punish him or anything, so I thought it was A Bit Much and Kinda Scary, but “all siblings fight” right?
‘Wasn’t until I made a friend with a similar aged sibling and saw that they could just hang out that I realized our dynamic was VERY fucked.
‘Anyway, everyone in the family still brushes that shit under the rug and I get accused of being “purposefully negative” or “fixated on the past” if I mention any of these incidents without making them a joke.’
-an0nym0usie
3.
‘The only computer in our house was in my room so it was common when my dad thought I was asleep for him to come in and look at porn. I could see it across the room, but because his eyesight was poor, I don’t think he understood how clear it was.
‘I don’t know that I necessarily thought it was normal, but I didn’t think it was weird since it was the only computer. It just made me intensely uncomfortable and wish he’d wait until I was out of the house. When I moved out, I realized how truly unhinged it was and it also made me take second looks at other things he did that I thought was okay. A lot of them were not.’
-Impossible_Smile4113
4.
‘Yell. The first time I fought with my then-boyfriend he just looked at me puzzled and said, “Why are you yelling?”’
-bluelily216
5.
‘The way my sister treated me. I really thought it was normal for an older sibling to hate their younger sibling and make no effort to hide it, until I was about 14. I jokingly told my friend she didn’t need to pretend to be nice to her brother just because I was there. She asked what I meant. Cue horrified expression when I explained.
‘So yeah, turns out not everyone tries to kill their sibling, who knew?’
-JustUsetheDamnATM
6.
‘My family was really fucked up, but here’s a lighthearted one: eating banana with the skin.’
-logalogalogalog_
7.
‘Make you eat dinner in the bathtub as a punishment. Honestly wasn’t even traumatizing??? If we couldn’t eat without spilling our food everywhere, they sent us to eat dinner in the bathtub.’
-ElioEilo
8.
‘Both parents walked around naked. Before/after the shower, nudity was so nonsexual. Didn’t realize that wasn’t the norm until someone said something like “it be so gross/weird to see your parents naked” and I was like “nah, it’s not really a big deal” and realized everyone was staring.’
-Smaaashley1036
9.
‘My husband is Greek, and his mom had that one room that kids were not allowed to go in. Special guests only. Couches and chairs were covered in plastic and so were the lamps. It was a sitting room for entertainment. While this is not normal per se, he has met other immigrant families whose moms had that one room.’
-Thorne628