15 True Childhood Stories That Unraveled Into the Wildest Plot Twists Ever

Childhood is a blissfully unaware time, where what your parents say or do becomes your normal. The same happened with all these people as well, but when they grew up, they had an epiphany. What their parents did was certainly not the norm, and as adults, they have mixed feelings about it.

• My mom had told my older brother and I for years that her dad had died of a sudden stroke or something when she was a toddler. She weirdly brought it up pretty often when we were kids. She’s the oldest in her family and has 6 half brothers and sisters.
  Then one day we were going through random documents and pictures in a box, and my mom says, “Oh, look, it’s my birth certificate,” shows it to us, and my brother and I notice the blank where the father’s name should be.
  We looked at each other and didn’t say anything, but it seems like she’d been trying to convince herself of the story for a long time by telling it to us again and again. It’s not like I feel anything different, but it was a surprise. It was one of the first moments of feeling that your parents are just people with complicated and messy lives. © katsura1982 / Reddit
• When I was a kid, we had a special treat for dinner on occasion. White bread, butter, and sugar sandwiches. I thought it was awesome, didn’t realize until I was an adult that we were eating that because we were poor. © seymour1 / Reddit
• When I lost my teeth, I put them in a jar of water in the kitchen window sill. When I woke up the next morning, my tooth would be gone and there would be a dollar bill in the water. I would run outside, lay it in the sun, and wait for it to dry.
  Apparently this wasn’t normal tooth fairy shenanigans. It was a lot of fun, though. © Duffle-muffin / Reddit

• Found out one recently when I was eating dinner at a restaurant with my SO, sister, and brother-in-law. When the family went out to eat, if you really thought something you ordered was good, then you offered to share. As in, “Anyone want a bite/taste of this? It’s really good.”
  If everyone ordered something different, your plate would become a hodgepodge of different meals. You got to try a little of everything. It made sense; if you ever went back to that place, you’d know what was good.
  Anyhow, when the food came, my sister and I were offering our customary “Who wants a bite of this?” My brother-in-law declined and mentioned that he ordered what he wanted... and that we were weirdos because everyone doesn’t share like that. I laughed and looked at my girlfriend, expecting backup. She, however, agreed with the BIL. It turns out my family are a bit different. Who knew?
  Edit: To be clear, you offer the share if it’s good. There’s no expectation of return. We would never grab off someone’s plate unless they volunteered. People have different tastes.
  Example: I’m not a big fan of seafood, so I’d pass on that taste. Recently learned though, through this method, that swordfish is delicious. © helpmehelp_you / Reddit
• When I was hurt, my family would go, “OMG, WE NEED TO CHOP IT OFF” to make me pause, stop crying, and forget about the pain. They would pretend to get a saw, and somehow we’d all end up laughing? I said it to my kid, and he freaked, saying I was going to murder him. Obviously, this isn’t a normal thing. © OctoAvi / Reddit
• One day, my parents told me they were going to grandma’s funeral. One small detail was that they had told us kids that she had died 30 years ago. She had been institutionalized her whole life, and so they told everyone that she died. © Lukas1975Pinto / Reddit

• My dad never participated in my life or my sister’s life at all, despite him and my mom still being married and him living with us. As a kid, whenever I saw a classmate’s dad at a school ceremony or sporting event like a soccer game or whatever, I’d think, “Wow, what a good dad! He doesn’t even have to do that, but he still does!”
  I just thought it was the mom’s responsibility to do everything kid-related. It more or less feels like I was raised by a single mom. © Unknown author / Reddit
• When I was younger, my parents divorced (I was their only child). My dad remarried, and I gained 4 older stepbrothers! For countless Christmas days, I asked for a sister.
  One year, my dad said, “You have a sister,” and showed me a picture of her. I was so happy about finally getting what I wanted. However, years passed, no sister, and I thought he said that to keep me happy, as I’d been asking for the same thing for years on end until I was 13.
  On the Christmas of that year, he said someone wanted to meet me. It was my sister, who was 14 years OLDER than me. © Time-Arachnid4552 / Reddit
• My parents used to hang out with this other couple. Their son was friends with my brother. Us kids were watching TV in the den when my mom came and told us to come to the living room for a family meeting. My brother’s friend asked, “Me too?” and she said yes, all of you.
  Confused, we went into the living room, where both sets of parents calmly explained they were switching partners and our moms were going to switch houses, which they did, that following weekend. Everyone got divorced and remarried in the new configuration, and we had a new stepbrother.
  We were all between the ages of 12 and 14 at the time. Talk of the town for a while. © foxyfree / Reddit

• I asked my mom about a little scar on her knee once, and that was how I found out my polite, English mother, who wears cardigans, was a biker. © ClaryClarysage / Reddit
• First, for background, my parents were together 56 years before my dad died. They met when my mom’s sorority sister asked my mom and another sorority sister to join her, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s two roommates for a double date.
  At the end of the evening, my dad walked my mom home. She went inside, closed the screen door, and through the screen, my dad blurted out, “Will you marry me?”
  Mom said “Yes!” and the rest was history. Family legend. I was in my 30s when my mom casually mentioned she was engaged to another man at the time. © raceulfson / Reddit
• I was in my early 20s when me and my 2 youngest siblings were told we had an older half sister (my dad’s daughter), and then a few years later, an older brother turned up (my mom had given him up for adoption at birth in the sixties). Prior to this, I’d have said we were the most normal family out there. © riaro70 / Reddit

• My father used to take us, siblings, on an adventure. There were four of us, aged 6 to 14. We’d spend the day in affluent neighborhoods, construction sites, and parks, collecting old cans. He’d do most of the work; we’d basically just hang around with him, having fun, and helping him a little.
  Then we’d go sell them and earn anything between $100 and $250. He told us we were “saving the environment.” When I grew up, I realized my dad had been supplementing the household income on days he couldn’t get work (he was a construction worker), and this way, we always had food on the table.
  He was a great guy, and together my parents are the coolest in the world. They managed to save enough to put two of us in college, and now we’re helping the younger ones to do the same. This is what families should be like.
• I was 22 years old when I found out that my mom was adopted; she knew she was ever since she was little and the only child! The family called her the chosen one! She has never wanted to know her birth family, so I will never take a DNA test for the reason... © Sorry-Afternoon-2922 / Reddit
• My parents are private people. They never told me how old they were, or their medical problems, or any family secrets.
  Once, I remember my mother talking to my younger cousin. She said, “Wow! I never knew your mom was married three times before.” Yeah, I didn’t know that either.
  There’s just so much I don’t know about my parents because they don’t want to talk about their past with me, like I can’t handle it, or something. I’m 27. I just thought it was normal to not know stuff about your parents. But apparently it’s not... © FranklyRedScarlett / Reddit

Clearly, not all childhood memories are rainbows and sunshine. Here go more such real-life plot twists that moviemakers could definitely get inspiration from.