What do you remember from your childhood that you now realise you really misunderstood?

They're "the Wombles of Wimbledon Common" as in they live on the Common aren't they?

Certainly we talked about it, my mum and stepdad weren’t married when we were children. I think mum was a bit embarrassed about it though, she used to joke that he was her ‘bidie-in’ (live-in lover)

@theressomanytinafeysicouldbe Well, clouds banging together is not that far off the reason for thunder: expanding hot air from the lightning pushing the colder air away.

I remember when I didn't make the connection between somebody holding a camera, and photos in an album; of course, this was long before digital cameras, and it could be weeks between a photo being taken, and actually seeing it. I thought they just "happened". It became clearer when I saw someone use a Polaroid camera, and then my mum explained photos to me, and taking film to be developed.

Marriage: I thought it just "happened", like being born. I didn't understand the whole process of people coming together until I was about twelve: dating, engagement, wedding; and even then, I wondered why literature made such a massive deal of people falling in love, and I was totally baffled by the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing. I never saw any adults in my life get married: all of my parents' friends were already married, so I never really saw the process for myself.

Not one that followed me into adulthood, but confused me for a day (I must have been 5). I was told at the start of a party that we would play "pin the tail". I asked what the game was, and was told "the winner is the person who pins the tail closest to the right spot". I remember thinking how easy this must be. I was asked if I would like to go first, and it was a shock when I was blindfolded: nothing had been said about that! It wasn't fair that I couldn't see to pin my tail.
😭

@DigitalGoat I know what you mean about the game Sleeping Tigers being played to give the adults a break. I'm sure that "Keeper of the Keys" was played at my youth group for a similar reason: one person would sneak up and try to steal keys from the blindfolded keeper, who pointed at any sound they heard. Adults loved this game because it was very quiet.

When I went on an overnight trip with a youth group, aged six, my dad came too, as a helper. But we left after only one night. I thought this was because I wasn't enjoying the trip much, which was true. But many years later, my dad explained that some of the teenage helpers were having sex in the dormitories during the day, and some of the children knew this.

This is so cute 🥰

I have a lot of siblings, I thought people were commenting on us being poor when they asked if my parents had a television, and that it was just a question about religion when I was asked many times if my parents were catholics.

I thought this too!

I overheard my mum and dad talking about my dad's friend and how he was going to give his friend 'a hand'. I literally cried for days thinking he was gonna chop his hand off and give it to him but I couldn't say anything because I was ear wigging!

Oh my God. Hilarious! Alistair Campbell had three humps! Alistair Campbell had three humps! This has made me laugh so much. Thank you!

@NewtName my DS thinks the same. We have a relative that's approaching 100 and he is absolutely convinced they will die on their birthday.

Me too. I cannot believe this!!!! 😅

The Magic Roundabout!! 🤣

There was a road that my friends and I would regularly walk down to go to the shops and get sweets probably between the ages of 8 and 15. Grown men in vans would regularly beep the horns and wave at us out the van and whistle at us.

We always thought it was funny and silly…. How fucking disgusting.

Oh. Is that not it? I assumed it meant "common" as in Wombles aren't rare.

It is isn't it?

Oh my DOG. I’m 52 and reading your comment is the first time I’ve realised that 😆

As a child I believed that my alcoholic dad just didn't love us enough. I grew up and and became an alcoholic and a parent and realised my dad did love us and sobriety is a separate issue and something the person needs to do for themselves and love themselves and want to live badly enough to come through rather than shaming and guilttripping with love for children.
I learnt that addicts are just people, they are complex and simple, can be good, funny, loving oe awful. In fact addicts need more sympathy and love than others.

Don’t give Kim Leadbeater ideas…. (Though I suspect she has already thought of this)

When we lived in Germany a new-comer said he was going to the local swimming pool because it was free! He was upset when we told him that Freibad wasn't free-pool, it means open-air pool and definitely not free!

My kids thought everyone lived to 100 then died. Decimalisation gone mad!

Yes it is. But I thought it was 'sit-down comedy' because in sitcom shows, people were mostly sitting around 🤣

To be fair, I went to a Catholic primary and there was a lot of talk about the Virgin Mary, who kind of did conceive like that, according to the teachers. Well, OK God may have helped, a bit. Ineffably.
I once taught in a Catholic High school, nuns and all, although I am a Protestant. The Sixth Form girls told me about their sex education lesson from a nun, talk about shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted! They were told that once you were married sex was allowed, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T ENJOY IT! One girl asked if that meant sex with anybody and the nun couldn't understand the question. At no point were they told what 'sex' entailed.

Oh and I was a lot older than I'd like to admit when I realised money laundering wasn't actually washing bank notes 😳

Oh, I think I see what you mean.

Say what?

I think sitcom is situational comedy.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t understand money. I thought that when you paid for something in a shop, you always got change. My dad gave me 50p to buy something that cost 50p, then found me patiently waiting beside the till for my change.