Patricia Grisafi
Normally, parents are not supposed to keep secrets from each other. But sometimes, a secret between a parent and a child can be pretty wholesome.
On Reddit, people are sharing the time they and a parent shared a secret that the other parent never found out.
Like, the time someone got drunk at a party and called up the more sympathetic parent to come and get them. Or when meals were acquired in an unorthodox fashion. Or the classic “I broke a lamp” story. We all have one of those, right?
1. Finding Change
“My dad loves it when he finds change on the ground while traveling overseas. one day, he and I were walking behind my mom in an alleyway in Amsterdam, and he was elated because he kept finding Euros laying around. A few years later my mom told me that she had been secretly dropping coins on the ground as she walked, so he’d be happy when he found them. He still doesn’t know.” — altaphrodite
2. Bullied
“When I was 10, my older brother (12) was bullied in middle school because we were poor and wore Payless our entire lives. He fought back one day and was suspended from school. When my mom asked what happened, he didn’t want to hurt her feelings so he lied. I told her what happened and she started to cry.
The next day she took us to a shoe store and bought all 3 boys Nikes, which were very expensive (think Ken Griffeys). She made us promise to not tell our dad and if he asked, they were super cheap on sale. She bought us Nikes two times a school year even though they were way out of our budget because she didn’t want us to feel sh*tty at school. I love you, Mom.” — tkm0ney
3. Stepdad’s Secret
“My stepdad and mom broke up. The day that my mom left, taking me with her, I went back into the house to say goodbye. I got along well with him, my mom is a bit crazy. I was young, middle school age. He was devastated and broke down (a first) crying. He told me that he had never told anyone this but the reason he had issues getting along with my mom was because he was assaulted as a child, and he was sorry.
He made me promise not to tell her or anyone. I never did. I always wondered if I should tell her but keeping his secret was the only thing I could do for him and I still cared for him a lot so I never told anyone. I wouldn’t even post it here but sadly he passed away some years ago now. It was really sad, he was a nice guy. But it never would have worked anyway with my mom.” — sarradarling
4. Dinner At A Funeral
“My Mom worked days, and my Dad was on midnight shift. So meals were my Dad’s responsibility that week. One day, instead of cooking dinner, he took me to a funeral of an old teacher of his that had passed away…so that I could eat those little sandwiches, cheese and desserts.” — mollymuppet78
5. Alcoholism
“My dad stopped drinking when I was around 8 because the doctor said he’d die within the year if he didn’t. When I was around 12-13 years old, he confided in me that he wanted to kill himself about a year after he had stopped drinking. He obviously told me not to tell my mother. I don’t think he really had anyone else he could go to with those thoughts. I still nag him to this day to seek therapy; I don’t think he’s properly faced his demons.” — raeann559
6. Bargain Wedding Dress
“My dad grew up pretty rich but was the youngest of 13 so by the time he came of age there wasn’t much for him. No big deal, worked his way through college (it was the 80s back when that was doable) and that’s where met my mom. My mother grew up inching on the poverty line and so when it was time for the wedding, my dad apparently really really wanted her to pick absolutely any wedding dress on earth that she wanted, no matter the cost. My mom, having a tighter understanding of money, bought one that had already been worn. She apparently never told him that. They’re both in their 50s now and made me swear to never tell him either.” — ofthestate
7. Some Pot
“Well, my parents divorced when I was quite young, and around age 14 I happened upon a substantial stash of pot in my mom’s house. She wasn’t angry about it or anything, and I knew she wasn’t a stoner or anything, it was just a one-time thing she’d gotten from a friend. But as she correctly pointed out, if I ever told my dad he would do everything in his power to get full custody of me, and I wouldn’t get to live with her anymore. Now that my brothers and I are all adults I can tell that story all I want, but yeah, I kept that secret.” — NomenNescio13
8. “All I Ask Is You Learn”
“When I broke up with my wife, my mum took it very badly. I was sofa surfing, had no money and asked her for help. She refused, saying I was man enough to decide to leave, I should be man enough to take care of my own problems after I’d left. I was so low, sad, depressed, anxious and full of guilt.
My step dad, who I had never been close to, called and asked to meet me for a drink in the pub. Once there, he gave me an envelope of cash and said it should be enough to put down a deposit on a flat to rent and get myself sorted. I asked why he was doing this, and his reply has always stayed with me. ‘You’ve fallen. I will not see you fall any further.’ I cried like the man child I still was at that point, and he said “All I ask is you learn. Grow. When all this is over, and everyone has moved on, make sure you’re a better man for it.’ He gave me a big hug, which was so out of character for him. Then he smiled and winked. ‘Don’t tell your mum.’ I kept that secret until after he passed away.” — Crankyjak98
9. Mike Tyson’s Punch Out
“I rented Mike Tyson’s Punch Out when I was in 7th grade and kept it out until I owed $47. My mom slipped me the money to pay it off so my dad wouldn’t go crazy about the money, which was a LOT of money for us back then. If he’d found out, he would have prohibited me from renting games for a while. I don’t think he knows about it even now.” — edgarpickle
10. Fell Off The Roof
“When I was about 8, I was helping my dad put up Christmas lights on the 2nd floor roof. (This was the 80’s, safety didn’t exist yet) He told me to get another strand and I walked to the edge (the roof was pretty flat) and I straight up slipped and fell off the roof and landed on the picnic table on the ground floor. My dad had no idea that I fell off until I yelled back ‘I’m ok!’ He made me swear that I’d never tell my mom. And that was the last year we EVER put lights up on the roof.” — -Words-Words-Words-
11. Cancer Diagnosis
“My mum’s cancer diagnosis. My mother was a very heavy alcoholic, with this she developed alcohol related dementia (known as Korsakoff [edit for SP] syndrome). She wouldn’t remember things within a few hours of telling her, so when she was informed in the hospital of her terminal lung cancer and secondary bone cancer she forgot and couldn’t understand why she was so ill.
We had to get home care help (this was in the couple of months leading up to last Christmas during the pandemic) so she passed away peacefully at home and myself and my dad created a narrative that the nurses and care staff in to help her shower/wash/medication etc were all there to help her get better and to get her back on her feet and full health. She happily accepted the care and enjoyed her time with the carers and nurses who attended. Then just before Christmas passed away peacefully in her sleep not knowing she was dying, but being looked after by her friends and family.” — olleyjp
12. Broken Lamp
“My dad and I would wrestle for fun. He would pretend to let me win, then he would get sudden strength and throw me into the couch. Well on this particular day, he mistimed his throw and yeeted me into the end table. I was fine…but the lamp on the table was not. We cleaned it up and went to the antique store to buy a really similar lamp. Mom never figured it out.” — dbar58
13. South Park Nights
“I came from a super strict religious household where I wasn’t allowed to watch about 99% of what my classmates were watching. I thought the reigns would loosen a little bit when I was in high school but they really didn’t. It was pretty miserable.
When I was a high school senior, South Park was pretty big and I hated that all of my friends were watching it and I never got any of the references. My dad thought it was hysterical and thought my Mom’s rules were dumb but kind of went with it anyway; however, South Park came on after my Mom was already asleep so that became our thing.
On South Park nights, my Dad and I would stay up and watch it together. We did this my whole senior year and even my first few years when I came home from college on breaks. (Yes, the same rules were still in place then. *sigh*). It was kind of a silly little secret but those are some of the best times with my Dad just laughing and catching up during the commercials.” — littleirishpixie
14. Drunk Guy
“That this one time I forgot to lock my door one night and a drunk guy walked into my place. After I, politely, kicked him out, I called my dad and he was like ‘yeah no don’t tell your mother you’ll give her a heart attack.'” — itsOski13
15. Called Mom Instead Of A Cab
“First time I got drunk at a party. I was hammered and was scared to take a cab. Then I remembered my mom telling me I could always call her for help and she’d be there with no consequences. I called her and she picked me up. All she did was make sure I was safe and had enough water to not get as bad a hangover as I was going to. No blaming me for waking her up at 3 am, no chiding just telling me she was proud of me for calling her for help. My dad, who’d most likely have a panic attack at the thought of me having been drunk, still thinks I was picked up because I was sleepy instead. Thanks mom.” — certified-dumbass-TM
16. Both Parents
“Had one of these up until recently, it’s not entirely within the scope of the question, but a funny tale is a funny tale: I was going on a senior class trip and had saved up some money to splurge a bit while I was there. My family had very little money back then, which is why I made it a point to save up for myself so that my parents wouldn’t have to.
A few days prior, my dad says ‘hey, here’s a few hundred bucks, have a great time and make some lasting memories. Don’t tell your mother.’ I, naturally, agreed and didn’t tell my mother.
The very next day, my mom says ‘hey, here’s a few hundred bucks, have a great time and make some lasting memories. Don’t tell your father.’ I, naturally, agreed and didn’t tell my father.
The trip was friggin’ amazing, I was able to do way more than I had planned and was able to help a few of my friends do the same. I told my parents that it was amazing, and each of them separately gave me the old wink-wink nudge-nudge and were really happy for me.
Decades later, I was visiting my family and the subject of doing ‘don’t tell [the other parent]’ stuff came up since I have kids of my own now, and I told them about how they had both given me the extra money for the trip, and how I was more than happy to not tattle on them to each other. They looked at each other, all comically wide-eyed, and laughed their asses off, swatting at each other’s arms and stuff.” — Tak_Jaehon
17. Ghost Story
“It wasn’t a secret we kept long, but it does count! My mother is from Thailand, and a convert from Buddhism to Christianity. Despite this, my mother does have a firm belief in ghosts, especially in cases of sudden, violent death, as that is an everyday belief in Thailand, kind of like living around bears or snakes— ya got ghosts.
My dad bought a property of thirty acres for cheap from the state, and about six months in I visit him there. Around a campfire, he gets this mischievous look and says, ‘Don’t tell your mother, but…’ Apparently, the reason the property was so cheap, was because the man who had previously owned it set his house on fire and shot himself with socks on his hands to try and make it seem like his wife had killed him (socks burn away, no finger prints, gun – voila! Framed for murder). Problem being, his house didn’t quite burn fast enough, and the firemen put it out, found the body, and immediately pegged it as a suicide. He’d been going through a divorce and was a few aces short of a full deck of cards.
My mother would have had a cow. Instead she’d been living there off and on six months and there were no spooky hauntings. Eventually my dad did tell her, and naturally my mother immediately called a preacher to bless the property.” — Ribonacci
Featured Image: Pexels
