15 Childhood Stories That Turned Out to Be Darker Than We Expected

The things we experience when we’re young stick with us for life and can really shape our personalities. While childhood is usually a happy and carefree time, sometimes unexpected things happen that change us and our view of the world.

• My grandma noticed something was wrong, got up, and immediately collapsed. I ran tohelp her but got lightheaded. I had to crawl on all fours, leaning against the wall, and managed to get to my parents’ room. They saw me, looked very concerned, and then I collapsed. The next thing I knew I was in my parent’s bed tucked in. Fortunately, everything was fine with both of us. © __karmapolice / Reddit

• Saturday morning. My parents ran to the grocery store, leaving me home alone. Suddenly, I heard a massive “boom” from outside and went out to investigate. In my neighbor’s backyard, I saw a small plane. It was completely smashed into the ground, and no one survived. We found out later that 4 people were on board. © Arya_kidding_me / Reddit

• We were very poor and went to spend Christmas with my grandma. When we returned, we realized our house was broken into. They stole our color TV.
  My mom broke into tears in front of me and my siblings, who were in shock. Nobody explained anything or comforted us. Instead, my parents got into a fight, blaming each other. Christmas day. © ferah11 / Reddit

• When I was a kid and staying over at a friend’s house, his mother said she needed to speak to me in private. She sat me down and explained that just because I had figured out Santa wasn’t real, I couldn’t continue to go around school spoiling it for all the others.
  That wasn’t me. I hadn’t been doing that, and I still believed in Santa... © CodeExtra9664/ Reddit

• It was the first time I remember my parents arguing in front of me. My father threatened to call the police on my mother if we didn’t return at the exact time specified in the agreement — as in if we were not there by 6:01.
  It was the first realization that my parents cared nothing for me and just cared about hurting the other parent. © Unknown user / Reddit

• When I was 8, I went with a friend, her siblings, and stepdad to a theme park. My mom gave him money for my lunch and to buy something from the park as a souvenir. At lunch, he let me get the most minimal order on the menu, and when it came to buying souvenirs, he said I didn’t have enough to buy what I wanted. The other kids were treated very well, while I was treated like I deserved nothing. So awful.
  Now, I do my best to make sure that everyone is treated fairly, especially when my children have friends over. I told my mom about it recently; she told me she gave him like $100 for me to enjoy the day with them. That man treated me really badly and profited off of my mom. He taught me what not to be like as a human being. © deedle83 / Reddit

• I had 2 friends who would just steal from me. I lost half my baseball cards because I wasn’t paying attention. I lost an important set of comic books.
  The specific moment... I found my empty wallet on the way to a friend’s house in the road. My dad helped me get my money back. I realized I was gullible shortly after this. And surprisingly, I stood up for myself eventually too. © S***D***ery/ Reddit

• My first year of high school was when I got my first allowance. $5 a week, I was rich!
  The second week of the school year, a new classmate asked me for a dollar so that he could buy something at the cafeteria since he forgot his lunch. He would pay me back the day after. Okay. I loaned him a dollar.
  The day after, he told me he would pay me back when he received his allowance the next week. Okay. I only get money once a week as well.
  The next week, I reminded him about the dollar. He said he had no money. Later that day, during lunchtime, I saw him buying a brownie in the cafeteria.
  A tough but valuable lesson was learned that day. © ErBoProxy / Reddit

• As a little kid, I was under the impression that the garbage patches in the ocean came from regular people, folks on boats, etc., just throwing trash into it instead of in a garbage can. I didn’t comprehend how big these collections of garbage really were, and I remember feeling crushed when I found out that plastic doesn’t break down and go someplace safe for the environment. It sounds dramatic, but I’ve had no trust in governments and large corporations since. I was either 6 or 7 at the time. © FarOffLanding / Reddit

• When I was in first grade, I had a friend that I hung out with a lot. He was cool, and his mom was super hot. I remember getting all nervous at how beautiful she was. In second grade, they moved out of town but returned a couple of years later.
  I remember going to his house for his birthday party and couldn’t wait to see his mom again. I still remember her opening the door, smiling, and saying my name. However, I got the shock of my life because I didn’t recognize her — she looked so different and unkempt. I couldn’t process how such a woman could change so much in a couple of years.
  On the way home, my mom could tell I was a little off and asked me what the issue was. I told her that Johnny’s mom didn’t look the same as she did before they left. My mom proceeded to tell me how Johnny’s parents went through a rough divorce and how depressed his mom was because of it.
  My childhood crush was no more, but I learned a lot about the effects of depression.
  © CBus-Eagle / Reddit

• When I was in elementary school, a kid in class brought some homemade beef jerky to school. I asked him if I could have a piece, and he said, “No, just because you’ve shared with me doesn’t mean I have to share with you.”
  I had been sharing my food with him for a while. It was a valuable lesson to learn early. If I do something for someone, I shouldn’t expect anything in return. If they don’t reciprocate, I’m not upset. But if they do, it means that much more. © Gran_Centenario / Reddit

• My much older sister learned in school about the sun exploding millions of years into the future. She explained to me in great detail while on a camping trip how it was inevitable and that it wouldn’t matter because we’d all be dead anyway. I was 4. © NerdDesNordens / Reddit

• At a Japanese restaurant, I had a salad and took a big bite of what I thought was a tomato — it was raw fish! I haven’t been able to stomach tomatoes or raw fish since! © Id10ts_everywhere / Reddit

• My father told me Santa wasn’t real. I said, “But you are my Santa!” He didn’t go away to get milk, but he told me there were also no dragons (I was a dragon super fan), and ever since that day, for the remainder of the evening, I wanted to talk about nothing else other than why and what absurdity he brought on to cause the world such misery — a world without dragons. © ArachnidFun8918 / Reddit

• I was in the third grade, and a girl liked me. I was more into transformers and stuff. I was playing marbles under the stinkbug tree at lunch with my friends, and she came up and kissed me. On the lips. I ran away. © NSR077 / Reddit

Finding out a big family secret can really shake you up. In this article, some brave folks shared the shocking family secrets they found out. It takes a lot of courage to open up about stuff like that, and we’ve got to give them credit for it.