People Are Sharing Things They Thought Every Family Did Until They Grew Up And Realized They Don't

"When we're growing up, everything going on in your family home seems completely normal, which makes sense considering it's literally all we know. But as you get older, and start to see how other people's families operate, it can be kind of shocking, like, "Wait, not everyone plays indoor badminton with frying pans and their dog's ball? Huh." 1. "I thought everyone used wooden bowling pins to start a fire in the fireplace.""

"5. "We never used the 'Big Light' (overhead ceiling light). We lived exclusively by the light of three dim lamps in the corners of the room. I went to a friend's house, and they had the ceiling light on at 8 PM on a Tuesday. It felt like an interrogation room." "The overhead light has 'you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here' vibes." -u/ Ulterior_Motif"

"6. "I thought that people always got really competitive when playing card games. Like, seriously, half the fun of the Thanksgiving card game was watching my aunts swear at their children. Everyone enjoys themselves, but it is very, uhhh, intense. Then I went off to college and started playing cards with my new friends, and there was only one other person who played with anything remotely close to the intensity I was used to." 9. "I used to think it was totally normal for families to have a 'midnight snack party' where everyone would randomly wake up, raid the fridge, and chat in the kitchen at like 2 AM. It wasn't until I stayed over at a friend's house and realized their family actually, you know, slept through the night that I figured out it was just my quirky family tradition.""

Children accept family behaviors as normal because those behaviors form their everyday environment. Exposure to other households often reveals surprising contrasts in routines, lighting choices, and social rituals. Examples include using wooden bowling pins to start fires, avoiding overhead lighting in favor of dim lamps, turning card games into intensely competitive events, and holding spontaneous midnight snack gatherings. These differences can feel shocking or humorous when encountered outside one's own home, and they show how diverse family customs can be even among seemingly similar households.

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