9 hours ago
People Are Sharing The "Creepiest" Family Traditions They've Witnessed Or Experienced, And Some Of These Are Mind-Boggling
Every family has their own special traditions and certain ways of doing things, but from an outsider's perspective, some of those traditions may appear a Recently, Redditor u/BothManufacturer4793 asked those in the Reddit community to share the "creepiest" family traditions they've witnessed or experienced, and my jaw is on the floor:
1."I have neighbors who want 13 kids because of something about Jesus and his 13 disciples. They're on their twelfth one now. They never interact with any neighbors, either. It's freaky."
—GT_Numble
2."I did a group project in high school and got paired with the 'weird,' quiet kid. He told me we'd have to meet at his house to work on the project because his mom expected him to be home 30 minutes after school every day, and he couldn't leave the house until he left for school the next day. I thought that was weird in itself, but his house wasn't too far from mine, so we arranged a time, and I biked over. I got there around five minutes early, and his mom invited me in and told me that he was in the shower and should be out soon. I sat on the couch and waited. A couple of minutes later, a door opened, and my group partner walked out in a bathrobe, followed by his sister, who was also in a bathrobe."
"He went off to his room and got changed so we could work on the project, but I was really creeped out. He was 15 or 16 at the time, and his sister was one grade younger. I understand siblings bathing together as kids, but I feel like that should stop when they hit double digits."
—Bringerofthenachos
3."There was a lady at my church who was still breastfeeding her six-year-old. What's even worse is that she had just started to wean off the nine-year-old as well. She'd told my mom once that there 'wasn't any milk anymore' and that it was just a comfort for her kids. The nine-year-old, even then, had MAJOR Norman Bates vibes. I still shiver when I think about him sometimes."
—BackgroundSecond9366
4."My ex's family loved scaring each other. Even at the dinner table, someone would randomly scream or slam their fists down, and everyone would laugh. It only felt a little weird until the oldest sister had a baby, and they would try to scare the baby, too. The baby would literally lose his breath, and they'd all die laughing while he cried. I couldn't even pretend to laugh; I just watched in horror."
—peachesncobbler
5."My friend's family shared bath towels, toothbrushes, and more. They weren't even poor, just stingy."
—SirKellerkind
6."When someone in the family turns 21 (sons, daughters, cousins, etc.), the adults would take them to the strip club together. And when one daughter said she wasn't interested, they were all baffled, like it was so weird she didn't want her father or uncle or whoever to take her to the strip club."
—Top_Manufacturer2729
7."I grew up with a large, dysfunctional family with many strange rituals. There was one 'branch' of the family I despised eating dinner with. It was an absolute patriarchal house. The father was a retired cop, and the house ran his way. At dinnertime, everyone had to be dressed up. For me, that meant a dress shirt and slacks, but for women, they had to be made up to a higher degree. We all had to sit at the table ON TIME, and only the retired cop was allowed to talk. You were only allowed to answer his questions. The food was crap, too, but the worst part is that you couldn't go to the bathroom, get a drink, or do anything unless the he allowed it. I remember that people would ask to be excused, and he'd say no."
"After a few times, I lost my patience and asked my mom why we even went there. It was like the curse had been lifted; she didn't like eating over there either, so we stopped. I haven't talked to anyone in that branch of the family since 2010 (a funeral). I don't miss them; I hated going over to that fucking house."
—Complete_Entry
8."I knew a kid who wasn't allowed to say 'fart' or 'poop' at home because they were 'dirty' words. Unsurprisingly, he was the kid who spoke like a sailor when we were at school."
—smr312
9."My friend's husband's family was surreally cheap, to an almost abusive degree. Despite being upper-middle class, the parents made their children buy their own movie tickets when they went to the movies. And if a child spent their allowance and couldn't afford the ticket, they were left at home. Each child was also only allowed one birthday party growing up. As in, they had to pick a year to have a party, and that was the only party they were given."
—MobbSleep
10."Kiss on the lips. I get that it's totally normal for some families to greet each other like that, but the idea of kissing any of my family members is revolting to me."
—Meridas_Angel
11."I was seeing a girl once whose family had a church room in their house, with pews and all. I never got to see the room besides a glance. From my understanding, her family would change beliefs every decade or so — going from extremely liberal to extremely conservative, etc. I grew up in an old-school Catholic family, but the girl's family did some really weird prayers that even I'd never heard of. All of the boys in their community were sent away to a private Catholic school in Canada, and they homeschooled the girls. To me, their lives felt like a cult. I haven't seen her or her family again, and it feels like I dodged a bullet."
—Sicilianguy1
12."My friend's family puts cutlery in the freezer before using it to eat."
—Tall_Somewhere_1280
13."My brother dated a woman whose father wouldn't allow anyone who wasn't a relative to attend any family events — no exceptions. They dated for four years, and my brother wasn't invited to any holiday, birthday, BBQ, or anything else that took place at their home. My brother and his girlfriend then got engaged, but that still wasn't good enough. Her father said my brother wasn't part of the family until marriage."
—sweetsquashy
14."I knew a family who sent their sons to the brothel to get laid when they turned 18. Everyone acted like it was perfectly normal."
—Wolves_all
15."I went over to a friend's house and ate dinner. After, each family member took their plates and put them on the floor for the dog to lick off them, which was pretty gross. Then, after the dog licked the plates clean, they just put them back in the cupboard. I still wonder what diseases I may have gotten from that meal."
—DramaticErraticism
16."I knew one family that would not tolerate any form of anger, shouting, swearing, or being upset. It explained a lot why the person I hung out with was so deeply frustrated. As soon as something happened, they'd just start crying in silence."
—GreenLurch
17."The girl I went to college with around 10 years ago invited our housemates and me to sleep over at her family home for a birthday party she was having in her hometown. When we got there, I was honestly baffled. Her, her mom, dad, and her brother just wandered around naked in the evenings and mornings. Like, once they've all gone up to bed, they'd strip commando for the night, but if they needed to mooch around the house, they wouldn't put a single sliver of clothing on. When I went to the bathroom during the night, I had the trauma of seeing her mother in her birthday suit. When we were downstairs watching a film, her dad just casually passed by the sofa with his little 'Jimmy' on full display to fill up his water, yet no one seemed to think it was weird."
"The final straw, however, was when the girl I knew was using the toilet in the morning after her shower — also naked — and opened the bathroom door mid-wee to talk to her naked father, who was asking her a question in the hallway. I felt like I'd entered an alternate naked universe."
—Terrible_Music_7439
"When I was growing up, we had some family friends who'd visit us. When 'bath time' came around, they'd draw a bath and share the same bathwater. It'd be the dad first, then mom, then the older brother, and then the youngest daughter. My parents told them empathetically, 'Please just take showers, or at least draw separate baths. Just don't leave the bathwater in the tub for an extended period of time.'"
—ChevalierMal_Fet
Um...I honestly have no words. What's the creepiest or most bizarre tradition you've seen a family do and normalize? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously share your story using the form below!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
