Tons of people chimed in with their realizations.

Here are some of the most memorable responses:

1.

5-year-old me was like, ‘What did you get for me?’

A wooden bowl filled with mashed potatoes next to a striped kitchen towel and a few whole potatoes. A metal potato masher rests inside the bowl

For years before anyone mashed any potatoes they came and asked me if they could use it."

So naturally, I spent most of my childhood looking like a confused chameleon."

u/youthtightxx

3.

A hand presses a button on a car's interior console, surrounded by overhead lights

“My mom told me it was illegal to drive with the cabin light on.

That was 23 years of bulls–t mom!”

“That the dog went to an actual farm.

A person is using a microwave, pressing a button while the door is open. The microwave's interior light is on

It took about 30 years before the realization hit.”

u/bogartbrown

5.

“The microwave will explode if I put my face too close to it while its heating food.”

A pile of fresh, unpeeled carrots with their green tops still attached, laying on a market table

“That I was allergic to hamsters.

My mom told me I was after I got an allergy test when I was 9. u/Miss_Meaghan

7.

“Carrots give you superior night vision.

A healthcare professional in a white coat and blue gloves disinfects a patient's arm, preparing to administer a vaccine

Even as a kid, I was OK with being night blind.

God, I hate carrots.”

In retrospect, props to her for making sure I felt normal about it.

Empty row of theater seats with black armrests in a dimly lit auditorium

Good parenting right there.

But I believed it until I was 16.”

u/SatelliteArray

9.

Two tents pitched in a forest under tall trees. Sunlight filters through the trees, suggesting early morning or late afternoon. No people present

“That the alcohol wipe they do before giving a vaccine is not a numbing solution.

“I loved the moviePretty Womanas a young kid.

I asked why people were mean to Vivian, and my mom said because she was a redhead.

Two people holding hands on a beach at sunset, their faces out of the frame

Years later, I’m 22, and my friend says she wants to watch it.

Cool, I loved it when I was little.

u/yankthedoodledandy

11.

Cat entering a pet door with only its hind legs and tail visible

“I always thought it was illegal to watch PG-13 movies below age 13.

“The longest lie I believed was that I wasn’t capable of achieving my dreams.

It held me back for years until I realized I had the power to shape my future.”

Christmas tree with ornaments and lights, surrounded by multiple wrapped gifts in festive paper and bows

u/PinkSZundressChic

13.

“I went camping with my dad when I was six.

There was a weird smell a few campsites over and my dad said it was a skunk.

I would occasionally smell it again, think it was a skunk, and carry on.

We lived in the country so it tracked.

Fast forward to 19-year-old me wondering why there would be a skunk in my college dorm in the city.

It was marijuana the whole time.

She baked a lot of cakes.”

u/Raeonne

15.

“Everyone has a soulmate.

It’s also a hurtful lie.

Why not tell kids that finding love is work like we do with other things?”

“That the buzzing sound in the summer is the electrical/telephone wires.

It’s cicadas.”

u/Individual-Isopod128

17.

“My cat brought a lizard into the house.

It was still alive so I decided to build it a terrarium and nurse it back to health.

I did and released it back into the wild a few days later.

My mom told me the cat immediately went outside and ate the lizard when I was 18.

The way she sat me down to tell me scared the s–t out of me.

I thought she was going to tell me something dreadful.

I thought I saved that lizard for years.”

I will never own a home, won’t be able to retire, and will never be comfortable.

It was all for nothing.”

That was Santa, son.

It wasn’t me.'”

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.