People Reveal Their Most Bizarre Family Traditions

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Piñatas for Easter and celebrations for the end of the world? Maybe none of us are as good at throwing parties as we thought we were.

Most of us can say that our families have a tradition or two, and we tend to think that they’re pretty normal. You know, things like making sure all of the siblings are at mom and dad’s house for Christmas Day, or doing themed Halloween costumes with a group of cousins every fall.

Whatever it is and no matter how weird you think it might be, you’re about to find out how tame it really is. The people of Reddit decided to share their most bizarre family traditions for any event you can think of, and you’ll never view a family gathering the same way again.

For Groundhog’s Day

“We celebrate Groundhog’s Day as the biggest holiday of the year. We get each other cards and have a party and watch the movie. We don’t really give a s*** what if the little guy sees his shadow or not; it’s more of a family celebration.—StickleyMan

Hey, it’s a day that we’re always made aware of, even though no one actually cares about it—well, unless you’re a weatherman or someone who lives in the same Pennsylvania town as the groundhog does. Why not have a little fun with it? Maybe you do watch “Groundhog’s Day” for fun when the actual day rolls around, but it might be time to up the ante a little bit.

Why not have a little fun with it? Maybe you do watch “Groundhog’s Day” for fun when the actual day rolls around, but it might be time to up the ante a little bit.

For Easter

“Every Easter my family does a pinata. I have no idea why considering were 100% irish.”—knudsonyoface

Easter eggs are usually stuffed with candy anyway, so it makes sense to get yours out of something that’s a little more fun for anyone who’s older than 3.

Egg shell broken, with smaller, dyed eggs coming out of it
Laurentiu Iordache on Unsplash

We’re not quite sure why a full-blooded Irish family decided to go this route, but filling the piñata with potatoes one year would make for a great prank.

For Thanksgiving

“I honestly don’t know how it all started but every time we cooked up a turkey for a holiday my grandfather would always give it a slap on its way into the oven. He passed several years ago but we still slap the turkey on his behalf.”—nostateofmind

Turkey being cut into
🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash

It seems like not knowing why they started is a common theme among the most hilarious things that end up being traditions. There’s something kind of sweet about the fact that they still slap the turkey in their grandpa’s honor—definitely still weird, but sweet.

For Christmas

“My wife’s maiden name is ‘Moos’ (pronounced like ‘moose’) so for years Christmas gifts in her family were moose-themed. As people joined the family, and not everyone had animal homonym names, they would just get assigned animals. I thought it was weird when I celebrated my first Thanksgiving with them, and people were asking what my favorite animal was. I answered ‘Um, I like bears I guess’. I now own bear towels, salt and pepper shakers, t-shirts, and even boxer shorts. There could be worse things. At least Christmas is fun and personal. My sister-in-law’s girlfriend got assigned ‘sheep’.—jbhall36

If you ever join this family, you’d better make sure to choose your favorite animal wisely, because your home will be filled with trinkets of that animal for years to come. Even if it’s not your true favorite, just pick something you’ll be able to stand

Close up of Christmas tree ornament
freestocks on Unsplash

Even if it’s not your true favorite, just pick something you’ll be able to stand seeing every day for the rest of your life.

For Birthdays

“We skip 99.9% of the Birthday Song at parties and get right to the best part,’YOUUUUUUUU!’ No joke. Mom lights the candle, everyone holds their arms out toward the birthday boy/girl and we all sing ’YOUUU’ and then the candle gets blown out. I thought it was corny at first but it cuts to the point, saves shy singers any embarrassment and we get to the cake sooner.”—teh_mexirican

As strange as this may be, we can appreciate anything that helps get cake into our mouths faster. Not to mention that singing happy birthday can get a little awkward sometimes, especially in a room full of shy singers. We just hope they warn any visitors who aren’t aware of this tradition before they find themselves singing

We just hope they warn any visitors who aren’t aware of this tradition before they find themselves singing alone.

For the End of the World

“Every time someone has predicted the end of the world (The Rapture, December 21 2012, etc.) my family has a get-together and a teaparty. Over time the teaparty evolved into a ‘teaparty with crazy-hats’, as my aunt has a crate filled with ridiculous costumes. So we’re all a group of people sitting around a table drinking tea while wearing tophats, WWII helmets, turbans, bunnyears, etc. Then at the end of the day we gather outside and watch the sunset as we prepare for the world to be destroyed. Then we get in our cars and drive home disappointed.”—WGMindless

What should you do on a day entirely made up by people who are likely a little crazy? Out-crazy them, Mad Hatter style, of course. Hey, on the exceedingly rare chance they were actually right, wouldn’t you want to spend your last day on Earth in style?

Person dressed at Mad Hatter at street festival
Paolo Nicolello on Unsplash

Hey, on the exceedingly rare chance they were actually right, wouldn’t you want to spend your last day on Earth in style?

For Cupcakes

“Whenever we eat buns/cupcakes, you have to ask for them by pretending your arm is an elephants trunk and asking in a gruff voice, ‘please can I have a bun?’—ShadonOufrayor

Chocolate cupcakes with different colored frosting
American Heritage Chocolate on Unsplash

If you laughed at this for longer than you’d care to admit, know that we’re right there with you. What’s even better than the tradition itself is that the original poster’s entire family once did it in front his new girlfriend without even thinking about it, and she was understandably confused. He even said that she wasn’t allowed to take a bun before she did it herself.

For Travel

“My kids are grown and we live in different parts of the country. Whenever one of us gets on a plane, we call each other and say, ‘I regret nothing.’ Creepy, but fun.”—YesRocketScience

Plane wing in flight
Ross Parmly on Unsplash

If this family is at all superstitious, we can pretty much guarantee they’ll be carrying this tradition on for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine being another passenger on that plane who overheard someone saying this?

For Test Day

“Whenever anyone of us has to take an exam they take a single uncooked potato with them. This has been tradition ever since my grampa found one in his pocket after acing his driving test. We’re not a particularly superstitious family otherwise, but The Potato has proven itself indispensable.”—schnitzli

Person taking test, desk covered in papers
Green Chameleon on Unsplash

Our mind instantly wanders to how much of a secret it was that the kids were just carrying around a potato with them throughout school. How do you explain it if something like that just randomly drops out of your pocket? We can only hope they experimented with this tradition a little bit—if French fries were just as effective, you’d have a good luck charm and a snack!

For Shopping

My grandma used to take us ‘junkin’. As an adult I realized what we were doing is stealing from the Salvation Army.”—Daimoth

Store's door
Mike Petrucci on Unsplash

We don’t have much to say about this, other than that we hope they were only doing this because they were at a point in life when they really needed to, and hopefully it only got better from there. Beginning to shop normally must’ve been somewhat of a weird experience, though, when the kids realized that just taking things isn’t actually what people do when they go to the store.

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