People Divulge The 'Harmless' Lies Their Parents Told Them That Messed Them Up

It's highly unlikely that anyone's parents have never lied to them at least once in their lives.

Most of the time, however, they weren't lying to us out of malice, or to be deliberately deceptive.

Rather, they were lying to us to encourage our imaginations (usually regarding Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or yhe Tooth Fairy), or to make us feel better (protecting us from a mean thing someone might have said or done at school).

While our parents understandably thought these lies were harmless at the time, they might not have considered the harm these lies might cause in the future

Redditor GrowthVanta was curious to learn about the lies people's parents told them that were anything but harmless, leading them to ask:

"What's a 'harmless' lie your parents told you that low key messed you up?"

A Less Common Dog Allergy

'That if I ate a hot dog I would die."

"My dad didn't want me to choke and die so he just told me I was terribly allergic."

"It wasn't a big deal until I went to my first sleepover and ate a hot dog and told my friend I was happy it was going to end like this and that I had a lot of fun on my last day."- Naamahs

Taking "Neat Freak" To A Whole New Level...

"The cops could come and take me to juvie for any household offense."

"Messy room, not doing dishes, not watering plants - mom would hop on the phone and ask for the 'Chief', so I'd scramble off to get the work done."

"When I got older and realized she was full of it, she actually called the cops to report I was on drugs."

"Cops correctly dismissed her."- delusion_magnet

A Great Way To Encourage Kids NOT To Help Clean The House!

"'If you vacuum over the cord to the vacuum, you will be electrocuted to death and the house will burn down'."

"Great."

"Now vacuuming lowkey scares me."- APraxisPanda

Everything Is Fine Burn GIF Giphy

What's In A Name?

"My dad was named after my grandmother's brother, who had died shortly before he was born."

"I was always told this, and it seemed perfectly harmless."

"Later in life, I learned that my grandmother had a sort of mental breakdown and thought my dad was her brother reincarnated."

"She not only named him the same name, but dressed him in his clothes and referred to him as her brother."

"In fact, her 'nickname' for him my whole life was Brother."

"It kinda f*cked me up and I never really saw my grandmother (or my dad for that matter) the same."

"I had so much more sympathy for my dad and some of his oddness."

"Can't be raised that way and not be a wee odd."- EdithWhartonsFarts

...Anyone Know The Origin?...

"'Mr. Yuck' lives in the cabinet under the kitchen sink, and if we were to ever open the cabinet, he would eat us.'

"I was terrified of that cabinet for years."

"Eventually I realized the household cleaners were all kept under the sink, hence 'Mr. Yuck' to keep us away and safe lol."

"I had no idea it was a thing with a commercial and stickers!"

'I just assumed my parents made it up themselves."

"Wild what Reddit comments can teach you lol."- forgetfulkaiju

You Never Hear Him Coming...

"Not a parent but my older brother said he saw the Easter bunny come in to drop off the baskets, and described him as a 7-foot rabbit who walked on two feet upright, and his fur was purple."

"And that each step he took had no sound. It terrified me."- mrsoap105

Easter Bunny Running GIF Giphy

Um... Not Harmless!

"My grandma went blind when I was born."

"My dad used to tell me it was because she looked at me."- anix421

More Believable Than A Hand Growing Inside...

"Had a bad habit of chewing on my nails when I was in the 6th grade. Mom told me a 'story' about a girl who chewed on her nails and accidentally swallowed a small piece."

"The nail continued to grow in her stomach until it poked through her stomach and cut her open from the inside and she had to have surgery."

"Never chewed on my nails after that."- mouseypink

NINE?!?!?!

"My mom told me when I was mayyybe 9 that she would 'just know' when I lost my virginity and it made me paranoid as hell about her being able to 'sense' things about me without me telling her."- Content-Effort5307

homer simpson episode 3 GIF Giphy

Um... Not A Lie...

"When I was maybe 5 or 6, I remember my parents talking about something and my mom saying, 'why don't you go with your girlfriend?'"

"I thought this was funny and so I turned to my dad, laughed and said, 'Yeah, go with your girlfriend!'"

"Well, when I was 11 or 12, my dad told me he cheated on my mom when I was 2."

"The woman became pregnant, and turns out I have a half-brother."

"I forgot to add that when my mom was feeling jealous or angry, that's when my mom would tell my dad to go with his gf, aka the woman he cheated on my mom with."- sticky_chicken01

... Guessing This Isn't Lou Ferrigno Jr?...

"My dad says he could lift a car with 10 people in it."

"Also that he was secretly the hulk, but never transformed bc he was really good at controlling his anger."

"I remember the next day bragging about it to kids in my class and debating them the entire day about how it’s true and my dad wouldn’t lie."- mrsoap105

Screaming For Ice Cream!

"When you hear the music playing on the ice cream truck, that means they are all out of ice cream!"

"DAMN YOU MOM!!!!"- beatlethrower

ice cream man GIF Giphy

...Too Soon?...

"Watched the news with my dad, the newsreader made a mistake I said to my dad what happens to the newsreader now he’s made a mistake?"

"Afterwards my dad said they’ll take him out the back and shoot him."

"I was about 7 thought it was very harsh, but accepted it."- SaharaLeone

Fool Me Once...

"If mum had gone out for the day and I was looking for her round the house, my dad used to tell me she’d had enough of us and gone to America to live with her brother."

"Wrecked my head."- allywillow

Had To Come Clean Eventually...

"'No, we aren't divorcing!''

"'He just wants his own room!'"- Opposite-Winner3970

season 17 episode 3 GIF Giphy

Once, you can't blame a parent for being dishonest with their children, believing that they were protecting them.

At the end of the day, though, there is a reason that the saying "honesty is always the best policy" exists.