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
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.
Image credits: SatansPetGoat
#2
My father always said the animals on the side of the road were just taking a nap because the road was warm.
Image credits: Donald_Keyman
#3
My dad told me that kiwi fruit was actually monkey eggs.This led to a bunch of rotten fruit under my bed.
Image credits: DoctorStein
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
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
Image credits: canada_mike
#5
My parents told me I had to tell the mailbox where a letter was going or else it wouldn't get there.They would watch and laugh as 5 year old me would talk to the big blue mailboxes.
Image credits: Dang_it_KK
#6
When i was really young, my mum would unplug the bath and told me if i didn't get out before all the water had drained, i would get sucked down and have to live in the sewers...
Image credits: User261
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
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.
#8
I had 7 ~~younger~~ brothers, which kept sliding down the staires and they all died.I never slided down a stair. S**t is dangerous
Image credits: LangesHolz
#9
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...
Image credits: r35h93
“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
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.
Image credits: Donald_Keyman
#11
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.
Image credits: anon
#12
When I was little I badgered my mom to look at something while she was otherwise occupied and she said "I am looking, I have eyes in the back of my head." For years after that I suspiciously examined the back of her head trying to find those hidden eyes.
Image credits: cosmic_potato
“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
If you break a pinky promise your pinky will melt off over night
Image credits: MimicDeezNutz
#14
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.
Image credits: MethodMZA
#15
My dad told me my goldfish ran away.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.
#17
That orangutan was pronounced "Orange-newton".
Image credits: janeyk
#18
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..
Image credits: anon
#19
Those big rolls of hay on farms...my dad always told us they were elephant cocoons.
Image credits: hornedgirl
#20
My mom would tell me there were bugs in my nose when I had a cold to make sure I blew my nose.
Image credits: App13hat
#21
If I misbehaved, Michael Jordan would retire. I remember so vividly the first time he retired. Then I did everything they told me and he came back out of retirement.#22
My mom said they only named hurricanes after girls otherwise they would be himicanes.#23
When asking what "Ped Crossing" meant on street signs, my parents told my sister and I that Peds were 2 headed dog beasts that were incredibly violent. They then proceeded to tell us vivid stories of their close encounters with these beasts and their narrow escape from death. Needless to say, my teachers in school were quite confused when I tried to explain my fear of Peds.#24
If I went outside without telling them where I was going, elves would kidnap me and only let me eat brocoli.#25
If you don't eat your vegetables, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will die.#26
If you stare at a handicapped person for too long you will develop their disability.
Image credits: Donald_Keyman
#27
My mom once told me that while she was reading at the beach a severed hand washed up onto her foot. I was horrified for YEARS until one day I brought it up and she said "Oh, I wasn't serious." No life lesson involved, just some mom f**kery.
Image credits: RUGoin2TheMallLater
#28
When my dad and I would go fishing he’d tell me that we needed to be really quiet because the noise would vibrate the boat and scare the fish away. Years later I realized he just wanted some peace and quiet.#29
Dad told me those were tomatoes he was growing in the basement. They were not tomatoes.#30
As a way to get me to eat my crust when I was younger, my parents told me that eating it would make me whistle. Unfortunately, I believed this until I was 15 because I’m a dumbass.#31
My father didn't actively try but I was convinced that he knew everything. When I asked stupid kid questions like 'why is the sky blue?' or 'how does the sun shine?' he would whip out this long as ELI5-ish scientific explainations about them. If he didn't know he would change the subject, research it later and then would tell me. He f-ed up when he was in a bad mood. I was 6 maybe 7 and asking a generic question like 'what are we having for lunch?' It was the first time I've heard him say 'I don't know' and I was so shocked. I even exclaimed 'But Dad you know everything!' I was 100% convinced that he was omniscient and he could have kept that illusion for so much longer :( Still. Good job, dad, good job...
#32
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.
#33
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.
#34
That the German for windscreen wiper was Flippenfloppenschmerenmachinen. It was a April fool that was believed for about 6 months#35
When I started losing my baby teeth my dad tried to convince me that since my nose wiggled just like my loose teeth, that meant my baby-nose was getting ready to fall out so my adult nose could grow in.This backfired spectacularly when I determined that his nose wiggled too and started responding to any and all parental requests by yelling "BABY NOSE BABY NOSE"
#36
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.
#37
My dad told me that cow patties were cow eggs. I freaking sat in a field for almost a whole day, surrounded by s**t, waiting for a baby cow to be born. But hey! It kept me out of their hair right?!? F you Dad.
#38
My parents used to set the clocks back on New Years Eve. For years we thought it was a special treat to stay up until "midnight" to ring in the new year, when really it was only 9 o'clock. I never saw the Times Square ball drop until I was 16!#39
My mom told me if I made weird faces, my face would get stuck that way.#40
Bread crust is the healthiest part of bread so I had to eat it. I was like 25 when I figured that one out.#41
Every time you flick the lights off and on, it costs 25 cents.#42
They said if anyone poked my bellybutton my butt would fall off, so whenever a family member would tickle me or try to poke my bellybutton I would cry and run away.#43
In the supermarket there was a gumball machine - it had a picture of crippled kids on it and quarters collected would be donated to them (or as I now presume anyway). One day when I asked for a quarter I was told "Why? If you eat one of those you will become handicapped and you'll need crutches like these kids". I avoided gumball machines like the plague for years. I remember thinking "why... why would the supermarket sell kid-crippling gumballs... it makes no sense.."#44
It is illegal to order a steak well-done.#45
My mom told me that if I was a pack rat, that meant actual rats would come and make nests in my things.(I was about 7, and had been tossing toys and clothes behind a little couch in my room as a method of cleaning. After she told me about what being a pack rat meant, I tearfully knelt on the couch with a bent wire coat hanger, fishing things out, terrified of rats.)
Image credits: StakeMeOutTonight
#46
Mess up in school and it will stay on your permanent record. That's the weirdest lie told to me by my parents.#47
My mom used to say: If I didn't cover my mouth while yawning, a bug would crawl into it. As stupid as that sounds, I still cover my mouth to this day. I hate bugs.#48
When my siblings and I were younger my parents would sometimes (usually weekend mornings) lock their bedroom door.One of us would almost always want to just come in and say what's up, but they would tell us through the door that they were in there talking about "Christmas presents."
Be it June, August, s**t even January, it didn't matter - That was the go to excuse since it worked. They played our asses.
Anyways, now all grown up, we kind of figured it out and it has become a punchline for our family now.
"Hey dad, did you get mom a good birthday gift? Hoping to have some serious discussions regarding our Christmas presents?"
#49
When I was little, my mom told me that, if I touched a caterpillar, my head would swell to twice it's size. She got my older sister to confirm it as well, saying she saw it on the news. I believed this without question until I was 17 and my friend went to pick up a caterpillar. I said, "Don't! Your head will swell." As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I realized how stupid I was.#50
To encourage me to get off the escalator fast enough when I was younger, my dad told me that if I was too slow it would suck me in to it and I'd die. He also told me that Benjamin Franklin died this way. Scary s**t. What's scarier is that I didn't question it until I was well old enough to know that Benjamin Franklin died way before the escalator was invented.#51
My father in order to keep me from going out at night in the dark. Told me that there was a group of raccoons that would wait outside for me and when I went outside they would ask me riddles. If I got these riddles wrong, they would steal my clothes from me. It worked.#52
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.#53
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
#54
One New Year's Eve when our daughter was about five, she decided that she wanted to stay up until midnight. By 9pm, she was overly tired and generally foul. By 9:30, we had enough. We explained to her that since her dad is Swedish, we celebrated Swedish New Year. Which we conveniently decided took place at 10pm. We all made it to bed by 10:30. For the next few years, we celebrated "Swedish New Year" until she was old enough to put the pieces together and realize that she had been lied to.#55
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#56
When I was little (think six or seven) I was terrified of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. It just so happened to be one of my dad's favorites. So, to help my sister and I get over our fears, he used some positive reinforcement. Every time we got on the ride, we would find a silver dollar next to us. Dad said the pirates had given us some of their treasure. It took me an embarrassingly long time to put two and two together. I thought every kid got treasure.#57
In order to get me to stop sucking my thumb when I was really young, my mom told me that if I kept on doing that it would turn red, then purple, and then fall off. I ignored her warning and kept on doing it. One night when I was sleeping, my mom dyed my thumbs red. I woke up freaking out but quickly resumed sucking my thumb. The next night she dyed it purple. I freaked out so bad I never sucked on it again.#58
When I was a kid I asked my mom what the word was for a female's private parts, and she told me it was "vagola". And then one day we were at a Thanksgiving dinner and my mom was being mean to me in front of my family, so I wanted to get back at her and yell something very inappropriate. Lets just say my family was very confused when I angrily yelled "VAGOLA!!!" to my mom at the dinner table.#59
My dad is a retired police officer and when were kids he had this old recording machine or something that he told us was a lie detector for work. He would threaten to hook us up to it if we didn't tell him the truth and it worked pretty well for him.#60
That the UPS truck was the "Up Past Sleeptime" man and he collected children who didn't go to bed on time.Won't see the top but goddamn, I was scared of parcels.
#61
Toys R Us is closed when the R is backwards.#62
My parents told me the legal drinking age for tequila was 40. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t figure out that was a lie until I was 22.#63
My mom had a roll of Rolo candy that she was sharing with grama while they chit chatted. Of course us kids noticed and asked if we could have some too. "You don't want this, the inside is chopped up cockroach." We were initially skeptical but we didnt have candy often and eventually we suspiciously believed her and left her and grama to their bug candy.Guys! Rolo candy is filled with delicious caramel. Caramel! I was bamboozled!
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