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People Share Weird Things Their Families Do That They Assumed Were Normal

No one family is the same.

One family could have "Taco Tuesday" every week, while another never skips church on Sundays.

Some could also do weird things like walk around naked or have no bathroom privacy.

These little tidbits were brought to light when Reddit user u/i-had-no-good-ideas asked, "What is the weirdest thing your family does that you’ve always thought was normal? How did you find out it was weird?"

Their dad would walk around naked in the mornings.

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"You'd just be in the kitchen eating your Fruity Pebbles and minding your own business and then his Captain Crunch Berries would be in your face," this Redditor wrote. Yeah, we bet many friends didn't want to sleep over there...

They never had birthday parties.

Unsplash | Jon Tyson

"Birthdays were observed, but there were never parties. I got toys, some good food, but no one was invited ever. I looked into the matter more closely and found that an ancestor had apparently died after his birthday party, and since then all parties were forbidden in the family." - u/RuinEleint

They have communal fries.

Unsplash | Louis Hansel

"Anytime we would get fast food, we would put all of our fries together in a big mound to share. Sort of like communal fries. Was over at a friend’s house and they bought us fast food. Once we got home I went to put my fries in a plate and put them in the middle of the table...lots of strange looks." - u/mndaver24

They have corn on the cob for dessert.

Unsplash | engin akyurt

Don't get us wrong — we love corn! Kettle corn, caramel, popcorn. But corn on the cob with butter for dessert? Definitely seems weird, yet this person's family has done that for years.

They blow into each other's mouths.

"When we had dinner, if you took a bite that was too hot (temperature wise), the rest of the family would blow in your mouth until it cooled off. to this day my brothers and i wonder why our parents let us do this" - u/ernielover125

Their dad would microwave meatloaf.

"He had a plastic bundt cake pan. He would mix mix the meat, bread crumbs, seasonings and such in it, and top it with some spaghetti sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. Once everything was mixed and topped, he would microwave it for 25 minutes and dinner was served." - u/theberge55

They finish chicken to the bone.

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Chicken in this Redditor's home was taken very seriously. They would finish every last bit of meat and gristle.

So when they went to college and someone didn't clean their chicken wing off, they instinctively grabbed it without thinking to finish it.

They have "cat songs."

"Some are just songs that we have changed the words to include our cats names, but others completely made up on the fly. We can still remember and sing the cat songs of our pets that have long since passed." - u/BroffaloSoldier

They had zero censorship.

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"Everything was available to us to watch or listen to or play. My dad taught my sister and me how to sneak into R rates movies by buying a movie for one but going to another." -u/jlynn00

They would eat dinner at eight or nine at night.

Unsplash | Pablo Merchán Montes

After having dinner at a reasonable time at their friends' house, they found out that their mom was an alcoholic. That's why they ate dinner so late so she wouldn't ruin her buzz from food. Sad.

They drank a ton of milk.

"Didn't know this was weird until college, but my family would often drink milk with dinner. Like we'd go through about 3-4 gallons of milk a week. I thought that was normal (what else do you do with milk) and apparently everyone thought that was too much milk." - u/ceedubs2

They work at Renaissance fairs.

"My parents have been doing it for decades, so I grew up doing it and thought nothing of it. I always thought it was normal that my family would dress up to interact with other people, also dressed up, wielding swords and the like." - u/ji-MOTH-y

They open their presents on Christmas eve.

Unsplash | Kira auf der Heide

For many people, it wouldn't be Christmas without waking up early on December 25 and opening presents. At the very least, some families open one present on Christmas eve, not all of them!

They were hoarders.

"But right after I left my family's home I became incredibly irate of any clutter. My home is now always organized and I constantly rid of stuff I don't use. But my housemate has a crap ton of ancient shit he doesn't use and it drives me nuts." -u/snake_pod

They cup up spaghetti with a knife and fork.

"My mom would cut ours up for us. I remember going out to eat with a friend and she didn't cut up her spaghetti and I was really confused, so I tried it later and started choking." - u/DeathBySwan

They eat pineapple slices on hamburgers.

Unsplash | amirali mirhashemian

This Redditor's onto something (learn more here). They said that putting a pineapple slice on a burger was like putting ketchup or lettuce on one — second nature.

They have no bathroom privacy.

"We comfortably go into the bathroom while someones taking a dump or any other business. I found out it was weird when I told my friend he can wash his hands in the bathroom when I knew my dad was in there, lets just say he had a bit of a shock as he walked in." - u/SpicyChaa24

The girls in the family didn't wear tops.

"We could walk around, swim, and sleep with no shirt on. I actually remember the conversation where I had to be told that I was now growing breasts and needed to start wearing shirts." - u/OstentatiousSock

Going to bed at 8 p.m.

Unsplash | Lux Graves

"Sundays are special, we go to bed at 6.30 pm. One time my friend came to my home on a Sunday at 7 pm and we didnt answer the door. Next day my friend explained me how weird it is to sleep that early when the whole world around us slept at 10 pm." - u/QuasiAstute

Announcing the bathroom break.

Unsplash | Jared Rice

"My family announces when we have to go to the bathroom. It's usually either my dad saying "well, I have to finish what I'm doing here, then I have to take a dump." With my mom, when she has to pee really bad, she will pack as many swears as possible into that one sentence..." -u/deleted

Where we put the cream cheese.

User didihill said that instead of putting cream cheese on bread, they put it on crackers.

That being said, this one doesnt' seem to weird to me. I find this one definitely on the normal side of things.

Spooning...kind of.

Unsplash | Anna Kumpan

"My family fights over who gets to spoon the blood off the steak plate. It took the in-laws in our family to really call us out on it. I still love it and die a little inside when I see other people letting good rare beef juice go to waste." u/LilNilmo

Celebrating solstices.

While user felcher_650 clarified that their family isn't particularly spiritual, they have a blast celebrating the solstice.

Hey, whatever excuse you need to throw a party am I right?

The birthday ring.

Unsplash | Adi Goldstein

"The birthday ring. We had these two wooden rings that had spots for candles in them, every year on mine and my siblings' birthdays you put one candle in for every year and my parents would go around and tell stories about us for each year/candle. This was done after cutting the cake but before opening gifts." u/sophheyy

Singing.

For user pmoneymoneymusashi, their family is living in a musical!

They are constantly singing to each other, with each other, and around others to make their lives just that much more fun.

Putting peanut butter in the fridge.

"My mother puts the PEANUT BUTTER IN THE FRIDGE. Until I went to college, I didn't realize how weird [and stupid and unnecessary] this is, and also, how lovely it is to make a peanut butter sandy without it tearing the bread up..." u/azdogmama

Washing feet before bed.

Unsplash | Rune Enstad

For user foxxsinn, their weird thing is that their whole family used to wash their feet before bed.

Honestly, this is just people practicing some good hygiene in my opinion.

Mayonnaise and Marmalade on toast

"My mum used to eat Mayonnaise and Marmalade on toast for breakfast and as a snack after dinner. Thought this was a completely normal food combination until someone pointed out just how weird it was at uni." u/b-mish

List Item #29

For user HeyHebi, their family has an interesting way of eating pizza. They start off using a fork and knife, and then when it cools down, they use their hands.

I'll let this one slide!

Puke bowls.

Unsplash | Tom Crew

"anyone with flu-like symptoms would sit in the family room, watching TV or whatever with the designated "puke bowl" nearby (basically the largest mixing bowl that was clean at that time). if you had to vomit, you vomited in the bowl. not in the toilet that was only about 15 feet away." u/cubs_070816

Bites of food.

"We share bite of food when ever we get something different or go to a new place to eat, we also used the code word “Ooh that looks good.”'

What weird thing does your family do? Let us know in the comments!