Things you found out about your parents that shocked you

[namhorFnodroG]

I recently found out that my dad worked as a Chef for a time at my Kindergarden I actually never knew that, he didn't tell me because then I'd just go into the Kitchen all the time, but still. It wasn't such a shock, but it was quite a suprise ^-^

 

[Marcus McLean]

this was the 90's and we just didn't have internet... and I only ever used the computer to play Putt Putt Goes To The Moon...<.<

man I got so good at that game that I could beat it in a half hour...

Man, Humongous Entertainment games were fucking awesome.

I liked the Pajama Sam and Spy Fox ones best as they were slightly more challenging, but they all had great graphics, puzzles and voice work. Best edutainment series ever.

 

[felbot]

my mother apparently had a miscarriage, i was supposed to have a older sister but unfortunately she got strangled by her cord and died when she got out, i was a bit stunned by that honestly.

 

[SirPlindington]

I'm not shocked by this, but my dad got in so many fights as a kid that his nose was broken 3 times. My dad was a reckless person. He still is. Good ol' father dearest. what an interesting thing you've made my life.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

I recently found out that my father's reckless driving was the cause of a huge car crash a few years prior to my birth. Luckily no one died, but he sank into depression and didn't go to work for a year.

That's probably what shocked me most, but it is very plausible, because I've seen him drive >.>

 

[BOOM headshot65]

It wasnt until recently that I really grasped it, but my dad is a Rush Limbaugh listener. Now granted, he is pretty sane about it, but still. I remember that when he would drive me around when I was younger, he would listen to Rush, and I would just think "Who is this crazy guy screaming on the radio?"

Although, I think he stopped listening to Rush. I havent heard him listening at home or anywhere else ever since the Sandra Fluck fiasco. Maybe my dad finally said "The hell did he just say?!" and stopped listening.


My mom is also a little strange in her political affliation. She is an independant, left leaning. However, here is what her voting record looks like for when she has been able to vote:

1) Reagan
2) H.W. Bush
3) Clinton
4) Clinton
5) W. Bush
6) W. Bush
7) Obama
8 (upcoming)) Romney

And she was one of the few people too like Bush, because of 2 things.

1) No Child Left Behind: As a teacher, she thought it was not good enough, but "At least he tried, which is more than others have done."
2) Response to 9/11: She supported Iraq and Afganistan, and thought He was able to keep a cool head during it all.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

my mother apparently had a miscarriage, i was supposed to have a older sister but unfortunately she got strangled by her cord and died when she got out, i was a bit stunned by that honestly.

That reminds me, I too am supposed to have an older sibling, a brother one year older than me, and even a younger sister who didn't make it past birth either.

It's really strange if I think about it now...

 

[AnarchistFish]

Finding out that the father I had always know to be my dad was not actually my biological father. My parents lied to me about until I was at least nine. And then my mother didn't even tell me she had been married to my biological father until I was 13, since she never talked about my dad I had assumed they had just had a one-nighter or had dated and he didn't want a baby or some such.

Also, finding out that my biological father tried to kill me in the womb was a lot of fun.

....God I don't know what's more fucked up, my parents or me. These two things are the worse, but only tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lies I've been told and the secrets that have been kept from me.

That's some really nasty stuff to do to your own child.

 

[Alcamonic]

my parents are dull as dishwater. They never did drugs, they never had sex outside of marriage, they never really even watch R rated movies.

You and me both. At least that is what I happily let the ignorant blessed me believe.

 

[felbot]

my mother apparently had a miscarriage, i was supposed to have a older sister but unfortunately she got strangled by her cord and died when she got out, i was a bit stunned by that honestly.

That reminds me, I too am supposed to have an older sibling, a brother one year older than me, and even a younger sister who didn't make it past birth either.

It's really strange if I think about it now...

uncanny isn't it, i actually have a older brother who did make it past birth, so i always wondered if anything would be different wit a older sister.

although on the plus side we are already, including me, 4 children here so a fifth may have been an inconvenience.

although if i already had a older sister then maybe my parents wouldn't have gotten my little sister, weird thoughts.

 

[Chaos1228]

Well, finding out my great uncle was/is a famous train robber in the UK (Ronnie Biggs)was pretty surprising.

Oh, and finding out my mom used to use fake IDs to get cheap wine from the the convenience store was a bit of a shocker.

 

[AnarchistFish]

It wasnt until recently that I really grasped it, but my dad is a Rush Limbaugh listener. Now granted, he is pretty sane about it, but still. I remember that when he would drive me around when I was younger, he would listen to Rush, and I would just think "Who is this crazy guy screaming on the radio?"

Although, I think he stopped listening to Rush. I havent heard him listening at home or anywhere else ever since the Sandra Fluck fiasco. Maybe my dad finally said "The hell did he just say?!" and stopped listening.


My mom is also a little strange in her political affliation. She is an independant, left leaning. However, here is what her voting record looks like for when she has been able to vote:

1) Reagan
2) H.W. Bush
3) Clinton
4) Clinton
5) W. Bush
6) W. Bush
7) Obama
8 (upcoming)) Romney

And she was one of the few people too like Bush, because of 2 things.

1) No Child Left Behind: As a teacher, she thought it was not good enough, but "At least he tried, which is more than others have done."
2) Response to 9/11: She supported Iraq and Afganistan, and thought He was able to keep a cool head during it all.

What does 9/11 have to do with the Iraq war? She doesn't sound very left leaning to me, lol..

 

[Waaghpowa]

My Dad is a white American, my mom is Chinese from Taiwan. It shocked me to learn that when they went out for Chinese food, my mom used a fork and my dad used chop sticks. Dafuq? I use chopsticks all the time and I'm only half Chinese.

 

[rosac]

My dad used to be a hardcore rocker, drinker, and brawler. I really can't imagine it in any way. Also, finding out my late grandmother disaproved of all her children's marriages except one (she had 4 kids.) Bit harsh.

 

[winginson]

My mum is a really nice polite woman.

And recently I found out she hung with the Road Rats in Croyden in her late-teens/early-twenties.

 

[IndomitableSam]

Hmm... Where to start?

My mom is adopted, never treated that well by her mother (who it turns out lost a baby before they adopted, but she carried it to term as was the way of things back then, so that changed her), so she was a constant runaway even as a child. So, one time she ran away she said "screw it, I'm going to Woodstock" and hitchhiked down there. She was 14. It was there she learned a great life lesson which she passed down to my sister and I: "Never take the brown acid".

She also went to a Catholic school, but was kicked out because she punched a nun in the face, ended up in juvie remand type places because her mom wouldn't deal with her (for example - my mom never knew what a period was until she got hers, freaked, and my grandmother handed her a pad and walked away. My mom had to go to her sister to have it explained.)

My mom wasn't heavy into drugs or anything, but she did meet my dad while dating on of his friends. Whereas my dad was a musician (guitarist and singer), and he travelled parts of Canada. I've never asked what went on during those tours, or what my mom did while dad was away as I don't want to know.

Anyway, mom was 18 and dad 21 when they married and then they basically spent many years travelling Canada and the US. Then they settled down to try and have kids - and lost quite a few. At least one past the 3-month mark as well. My parents had been on the adoption list for many years before they finally had us (twins, my sister and I) - and we were pretty much a miracle.

Fast forward through many years and a good number of family issues, and such is life now. My mother was crippled by a horrible doctor, so she'll never be the same again, and my dad is just about ready to retire. My dad will still ... indulge in the light stuff now and then, my mom can't anymore as she's on heavy painkillers, but she did before her surgeries too.

Probably because I grew up hearing all of these stories and seeing what they do to people, I never did drugs or went really crazy. Because my parents always told us what happens afterwards and the downsides to everything.

Also, to make the story even more movie-esque: My mother grew up quite well off, and my dad literally grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.

Edit: Am leaving out a lot of deep, scary, and kinda terrible family issues as those types of things sometimes need to stay buried. My sister and I grew up very happy and well-treated, though.

 

[Nitrozzy7]

I have a dad

 

[Easton Dark]

"Oh wow, how did you get all this?" he asked.

Mum apparently smiled sweetly and said, "Cause I spent the night with the drummer, you fucking prick!" Then packed her bags and left.

That is the raddest thing I've read so far. Awesome response.

 

[Total LOLige]

That my mum smokes weed...and it's not the odd spliff on special occasions either. Makes me wonder who the 'friends of the family' that visited every week or so really were. And she's been telling me don't smoke or do drugs, better than letting me do those things I suppose.

 

[Ghonzor]

Nothing I found out about my father is particularly shocking. Depressing maybe, as I've been told, but it didn't surprise me at all. He was a Green Beret though, which is kinda cool. Explains the paranoia and rampant "America fuck yeah" attitude at least.