Somebody asked about annoying things people’s parents used to do that they ‘understand completely’ now they’re an adult – 23 ways your folks had it right

We all go through a phase, usually quite a long one between the ages of about 10 and 25, when we think our parents are the weirdest, most tightfisted or boring people on the earth.

And then one day our prefontal cortexes are fully developed and realise they were right about everything all along.

They’ve been discussing the wisdom of older generations on the AskUK subreddit after Purepoise posted their own experience of this phenomenon:

Is there anything that your parents used to do when you were younger than made you think “why are they doing that” but understand completely now you are an adult?

I have a few but my highlights include:

-Soreen with loads of butter.

-Packing a lunchbox/picnic bag for long journeys. Coffee on the go and road snacks… Not just delicious but great on the purse strings.

Definitely tips worth taking on, and lots of people chipped in with the things that their folks got right too, like these…

1.

‘Staying home on Sundays and doing nothing apart from cooking a traditional Sunday lunch. Then just crashing out and watching TV. Now I’m in the same position I understand that a nothing Sunday is vital for recharge.’
–Soukchai2012

2.

‘Definitely flasks of tea or coffee as cafe prices are so ramped up. Coffee is somehow delicious from a flask. We also had flasks of soup with bread and butter. Trying to get changed on the beach under a towel was weird though. Very British.’
–Ok-Hovercraft9348

3.

‘Dad spending an hour in the bog ‘having a poo’. Was probably the only time he got peace and quiet.’
–Moeen_Ali

4.

‘Saying no to the pick n mix sweets at the cinema. The first time I went without them I made a very expensive mistake!

Now that I have my own children, our thing is to make sure that anywhere we need to go on a weekend, we get there exactly as it opens. I hate crowds at the best of times, so co-ordinating tiny children who are only semi domesticated is a nightmare. I wonder how many memories they’ll have of eating toast in the back of the car because we needed to leave the house at 7am.’
–Dydey

5.

‘Going to the toilet “just in case”.’
–Illustrious_Sea7480

6.

‘Commenting on the prices every time you pass a petrol station. I get it.’
–JeffSergeant

7.

‘I never questioned it at the time but as a kid whenever my dad would see a McDonald’s he’d make a big deal of going ‘Oh McDonald’s, yuck!’ and obviously that caught on to me. It wasn’t until years down the line and I was invited to McDonald’s birthday party that I learnt it wasn’t disgusting. Obviously easier to say that something isn’t nice to your child as opposed to saying it’s unaffordable.’
–inkedblonde13

8.

‘Saying “We’ll see…” in response to a request for something. Translation: “No”.’
–LauderSyme

9.

‘Having a separate living room to the kids.’
–Darkgreenbirdofprey

10.

‘Look exhausted.’
–TheMarkMatthews

11.

‘My mum always had to know exactly where I was. I thought she was paranoid when I was younger but now it makes sense.’
–Vampirero

12.

‘Not letting us stay up to watch Cracker. Everyone else at primary school was allowed to watch grisly murders and we felt left out.’
–GeggingIn