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

I used to think my Dad was super popular as he waved to everyone when he was driving. It wasn't until I learnt to drive that I realised he was just thanking them!

I was also (showing my age here) confused about the "Blankety Blank Cheque Book and Pen". I didn't realise it was just a trophy, I thought you won a gold checkbook and pen which magically allowed you to spend as much money as you liked paid for by the BBC!

Lived in a council estate when I was little.
My Best friend who lived next door and ate a lot at ours had a dad who was a ‘long distance lorry driver’ who would be gone for months on end. His mum was a SAHM as there was 5 kids in total.
As an adult I realised that his dad was violent and in and out of prison, was unemployed and the reason my mum fed friend so much was because his mum was an alcoholic, struggling to survive and feed her kids.
We moved to our own house off the estate when I was 11 and we lost touch. I heared through other friends that friend was 17 the 1st time he was locked up for assault. At 50 he’s spent more time in prison than out of it.

Thinking my (older) brother was wonderful and craving his approval, when now I realise he was a nasty bully.

@alexdgr8 Yes! When we got frightened of thunder my Nan used to say 'Don't worry, it's just God moving his furniture around.'
I loved the idea that even God had to get on and do household things up there above the clouds.

Was watching TV when I was very little, and they announced that Michael Fish would be on later. I was really looking forward to seeing this cartoon about a fish.

I was very disappointed when it was just the weather forecast.

I have another childhood confusion ... My Nan had a male 'Lodger' who lived at her house. I never thought it at all strange that this 'Lodger' also came on holidays with us, came to our house for Sunday dinner, stayed with our family at Christmas etc.
It was years YEARS later that I put the obvious 2 and 2 together and realised the 'Lodger' was Nan's partner.
When he died mum used the term 'common-law wife' for Nan, which I thought made Nan sound like a common peasant :(
Apparently the Lodger had an estranged wife ... Nan was left nothing and couldn't even go to his funeral as the Lodger's wife and daughter took over.
No-one spoke about unmarried couples (especially older ones) living together in the 70s. We lived in ignorance.

Same!! And in fact even after I knew the truth about Santa it took me a while to twig about the song…

Me too!!!

Way back when Toblerones were something a bit exotic, my uncle gave my mum one and said "That is for doing the curtains." 4 year old me didn't realise that it was a present to thank my mum for making him some curtains, and started "cleaning the curtains" with it. My mum has never let me forget this.

This is so funny but actually an amazing concept

I have another.....

Years ago my grandpa was cutting the grass and he went over a frog and near enough cut it clean in half, my dad sat me on his knee, said not to worry, the frogs friends will come and get him and make him better, took me into the kitchen and when we went back frog was gone........

Fast forward 30 years and a frog had drowned in a bucket in my back garden, told DS that if we pour the water and frog onto the grass, its friends would come and get it, and proceeded to pour the water and dead frog onto the grass. It was as I was doing this that the penny dropped.

That my parents friend who was referred to as a "confirmed bachelor" was actually gay.
I just thought he hadn't met anyone yet and I was in with a chance of being a bridesmaid!

Oh my intelligent 4A star Alevel son, as he started uni, thought that his overdraught was ‘money the bank has given me’.🤯

He was shocked to find that he would have to pay it back if he spent it….😵‍💫

Yes, but I didn't realise until I was 36, and I said it to my DS and my partner started laughing and explained that in fact it was not clouds banging together

Every time I heard "held in custody" on TV, I thought it was "custardy". I imagined each criminal sitting in a huge vat of yellow custard! 😂

I thought mummy genuinely was kissing Santa Claus in the song. I always thought it was a bit mean on the dad and wondered why someone would write a happy song about it. I was literally an adult when I realised the truth 🙈

In my daythunder was God moving the furniture around.
Anyone else remember this?

I always thought that male sweet shop/newspaper staff must all be a very polite lot because over the door it always said 'News Gents'. Of course, it was really 'newsagents' but I went with my version for years when I was a kid.

Me too! 🤦‍♀️

Quite possibly!

I think in truth he viewed her as ‘having been round the block a bit’, he had probably been there too as had his mates.

Very of it’s 1970’s time and views.

I used to listen to the theme tune of the Wombles and thought when they sang “the Wombles of Wimbledon,
common are we”

that they considered themselves a bit low class.

Serra-mic? SER-a-mic?

I was told this! To me it made sense: if you banged cushions together, the made a tiny little sound, and clouds were enormous so the sound would be proportionally much louder!

Quite an image, it sounds really cathartic.

Something a therapist would make you do.