18 People Describe The Secret They And One Parent Kept From The Other Parent

The bond of trust between a parent and their child is sacred—far more sacred, apparently, than the bond of trust between two parents! Sometimes when the truth is harsh or painful, one parent will make a secret deal with their kid to shield their spouse from it. It’s often more merciful to spare someone’s feelings—or to spare them from punishment—than it is to tell everyone the truth.

“Dad Only Pretended He Was Spanking Me”

“My mom used to send my dad into my room to spank me. He would whisper to me that we were going to play a little pretend game to make my mom happy. He would tell me he was going to clap his hands, and I needed to pretend to cry like I was being spanked. I really didn’t realize how awesome my dad was for doing that until much later in life.” —u/docmoonlight

“He Never Told Mom I Fell Off The Roof”

“When I was about 8, I was helping my dad put up Christmas lights on the 2nd-floor roof….I walked to the edge (the roof was pretty flat) and I straight up slipped and fell off the roof and landed on the picnic table on the ground floor. My dad had no idea that I fell off until I yelled back, ‘I’m OK!’ He made me swear that I’d never tell my mom.” —u/Words-Words-Words-

“They Both Gave Me Money, And I Kept It Secret Both Times”

“I was going on a senior class trip and had saved up some money to splurge a bit while I was there….A few days prior, my dad says ‘Hey, here’s a few hundred bucks, have a great time and make some lasting memories. Don’t tell your mother….The very next day, my mom says, ‘Hey, here’s a few hundred bucks, have a great time and make some lasting memories. Don’t tell your father.’” —u/Tak_Jaehon

“We Opened A Christmas Present Before Mom Got Home”

“I got lucky and found a Wii for Christmas the year it came out. But it was for me from my parents. Anyways, one day I’m home from school and Dad was home from work. We opened it, played Wii sports all day and put it back before Mom came home. Fuck, I miss him.” —u/Infectedrage

“Mom Let Me Run Up A Bill Playing A Video Game”

“I rented Mike Tyson’s Punch Out when I was in 7th grade and kept it out until I owed $47. My mom slipped me the money to pay it off so my dad wouldn’t go crazy about the money, which was a LOT of money for us back then. If he’d found out, he would have prohibited me from renting games for a while.” —u/edgarpickle

“Dad Took Me To A Funeral So I Could Eat”

“My Mom worked days, and my Dad was on midnight shift. So meals were my Dad’s responsibility that week….One day, instead of cooking dinner, he took me to a funeral of an old teacher of his that had passed away…so that I could eat those little sandwiches, cheese and desserts.” —u/mollymuppet78

“Dad Didn’t Tell Mom About The Drunk Burglar”

“That this one time I forgot to lock my door one night and a drunk guy walked into my place. After I politely kicked him out, I called my dad and he was like, ‘Yeah, no, don’t tell your mother you’ll give her a heart attack.’” —u/itsOski13

“Mom Said I Was Sleepy, Not Drunk”

“First time I got drunk at a party. I was hammered and was scared to take a cab. Then I remembered my mom telling me I could always call her for help and she’d be there with no consequences….My dad, who’d most likely have a panic attack at the thought of me having been drunk, still thinks I was picked up because I was sleepy instead.” —u/certtified-dumbass-TM

“Mom Wrote Fantasy Love Letters To Other Men”

“My sisters and I found fantasy love letters to other men besides my father. I know they were fantasy because she didn’t even know half of them and some were happily married. They were all about her wanting to run off with these men and have their baby, and she had a hysterectomy after her last pregnancy.” —u/Totl_Gur_4330

“Dad Didn’t Tell Mom I Was Pregnant”

“He didn’t keep it for very long, but my dad found out I was having a suspected ectopic pregnancy before my mum. It was three days before Christmas, and he came round to drop some bits off thinking I was at work. Instead he found my hospital letter and me crying on the sofa, after only being home an hour. ” —u/JanuaryGrace

“Dad Didn’t Believe I Was His Daughter”

“My dad had me take a DNA test ’cause he didn’t believe when my mom said I was his daughter. He didn’t tell my mom….He told me I was after he got the results, but I never seen them myself. My parents abandoned me 25 years ago then got back together she lied about her other kids being his so he wanted to be sure.” —u/SlyOnyxxx

“I Ate The Gingerbread Cookies”

“The gingerbread cookies on the balcony….Yea, some of it was eaten by the birds, but not all of it. Sorry, mom!” —u/VattghernCZ

“The House Is Painted Two Colors”

“My mom and dad were arguing over what shade of brown to paint the house. My mom wanted a lighter color (too light in my and my dad’s opinion) and dad and I wanted a darker color (of course, too dark in my mom’s opinion). Well, when we had the painters come, they painted one side of the house in a lighter brown, my dad and I took one look and said make the rest of the house darker, so they did.” —u/cosmichoot

“Dad Watched ‘South Park’ With Me While Mom Slept”

“I came from a super strict religious household where I wasn’t allowed to watch about 99% of what my classmates were watching….When I was a high school senior, South Park was pretty big and I hated that all of my friends were watching it and I never got any of the references. My dad thought it was hysterical and thought my mom’s rules were dumb…however, South Park came on after my Mom was already asleep, so that became our thing.” —u/littleirishpixie

“I Got Dad High This Past Thanksgiving’

“The other day on Thanksgiving my dad found an opportunity to look at me and whisper, ‘did you bring any?’ while making a joint-smoking gesture. I nodded and said I was gonna take the dogs out soon….He met me in the back yard, where I had already lit a small pile of leaves in the fire pit. He requested a single hit of marijuana to which I obliged…Mom didn’t have a clue lol” —u/beat_factory

“Dad Replaced Mom’s Wedding Ring”

“When I was young , I took my mom’s wedding ring to the park, and hid it because I thought it was like treasure and if I put a stick in the sand where I buried it, I’d be like a pirate finding the treasure I hid….I told my dad first, he would just keep buying my mom replacement wedding rings over the years….We never told her, and he kept buying the rings.” —u/azulreina

“Mom Dropped That Money Dad ‘Found’ On The Ground”

“My dad loves it when he finds change on the ground while traveling overseas. One day, he and i were walking behind my mom in an alleyway in Amsterdam, and he was elated because he kept finding Euros laying around. A few years later, my mom told me that she had been secretly dropping coins on the ground as she walked, so he’d be happy when he found them.” —u/altaphrodite

“He Didn’t Tell Mom I’d Be Home For Christmas”

“The first Christmas after I moved halfway across the country (MA to TX), I surprised my mom at her work. It killed my dad to keep the whole thing a secret but helped me play the ‘she just started a new job and can’t take work off’ card. Best secret ever, and her reaction went straight to Facebook =D” —u/mma_leanne