10 Secrets These People Make Sure Their Parents Will Never Know

People say some things are better left unsaid, which seems more true than ever when it comes to telling parents things you don’t want them to know. Whether it’s questionable life choices, or quests you wish you never took part in, it often looks like it would be best to keep them to yourself for the sake of both yourself and your folks.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community have opened up about things they wouldn't want their parents to know after one of them started a discussion on the topic, and they got quite honest about it. Their stories ranged from petty theft and blaming their siblings to confessions way deeper and more emotional than that, so if you, too, have something you don’t want to share with your folks, scroll through the list below to see that you’re not alone.

10 PHOTOS

#1

When you guys went to Hawaii I put Milo (cat) down. He was sick, in incredible pain, couldn't eat or drink, couldn't even move to get to the litterbox. When you left on vacation he was too weak to even yowl in pain anymore. I couldn't stand to see that cat in so much pain and so afraid so I did the only thing I could do to help him- end his life humanely.

My parents were 100% against putting down a pet regardless of how much it is suffering so they'd be beyond mad if they knew this.

#2

(creating a throwaway since this is a little personal) That my little brother's car accident was a suicide. My teenage brother had been struggling with OCD and social anxiety for a while. It was something all of our siblings had dealt with growing up, but it was especially hard on him since the rest of us had moved away from our hometown years ago. Everyone wondered how it could have happened, and they just assumed that he was skipping class since he hated going to school. But I was the one who found the letter after his funeral, and instead of showing it to anyone I just got rid of it and covered up all the evidence (think search history of "fatal car crashes") The reason I didn't show them is because my dad used to be an alcoholic when we were much younger. The only reason he stopped drinking is because my mother threatened to divorce him and take us away, and he's been sober for almost 15 years now because of it. Also, at the time my mother was fighting stage II breast cancer, and was bedridden and ill with chemo during everything. My father was very attached to our youngest siblings, and they were devastated enough that I had to stay with them for several weeks to make sure they would be fine. The possibility that my father could have been driven back to drinking, and potentially destroyed my family further made my choice for me. No one knows but me and my therapist, and no one else will ever know. I made this decision for them, and I've accepted that it's something I will have to carry for the rest of my life. It still hurts sometimes though.

#3

I searched Craigslist for "free kittens" and drove 1.5 hours to some podunk trailer home in the sticks to adopt a 5-week-old kitten. I told my parents that my sister and I had found him outside of Burger King's trash bins. Three years later he's still my boy, but my parents would flip out if they knew the truth.

#4

While at work I faked an asthma attack to get out of work early. Mom took me to the urgent care center after the inhaler "didn't help" . . . the docs ran an EKG and found something peculiar, after a breathing treatment they advised that I follow up with a cardiologist and sent me home. Fast forward 3 months and countless doctors and specialists and we discovered that i had a hole in my heart that required open heart surgery. yup, a lie to skip out on work saved my life.

#5

That many years ago I found that cigarette pack in your drawer, Dad.

I'll never tell anyone that you smoke once in a while when life is too much to handle, maybe when your 38-year-old patient dies of a heart attack, or when a mother of three gets very bad skin cancer, or when your daughter is depressed and seems to have lost any will to live. You've been good enough to stop smoking 20 smokes a day after thirty years of killer habit, and I'm proud of you.

I can never tell you because you always want to be perfect in our eyes. You're not perfect but you still are a great doctor and a great dad. Thank you.

#6

That I'm gay as f**k, family's homophobic.
I'm only 16 at the time and plan to come out when I turn 18.

#7

I was 10-ish and my dad had just painted the boiler room door orange in our basement. My younger brother and I were pushing each other around on a skateboard in the basement and my dad warned us, don't you dare hit this door with your skateboard. 15 minutes later I'm picking my brother up from the ground and looking at a hole in my dad's orange door caused by said skateboard. Not telling dad. Instead, I grab a piece of orange construction paper and a glue stick to "patch" the hole. It matched surprisingly well. 27 years later that construction paper is still holding strong and I have never heard a word about it from my pop.

#8

My address. My parents are psychotic.

#9

This will come too late to ever be seen.

That I was homeless for more than two years. During the recession from 2008 to some time in 2010, I lost my job and eventually was kicked out of my apartment. I had a 10-year-old car that was paid off, so I lived out of that until I found a series of jobs cleaning houses, and working in a recreational center part-time.

My parents lived 1,000 miles away and I managed to keep a mailing address at a friend's so they never realized. It would have killed them that I didn't want to ask for help, I wanted to do it on my own.

#10

Well, I'm a 20-year-old son of a Muslim family living in a Western country. I am gay. The only reason I moved out into my apartment was because I had a boyfriend. My mother knows I'm gay but says it is a sin and doesn't wanna talk with me anymore until I go "straight" again, my father does not know, he would probably k*ll me If he knew :/ But I enjoy every minute with my boyfriend and I don't give a f**k about my parents.