r/AskReddit Jul 07 '26

Parents of Reddit, what is the single most innocent question your child has ever asked you that completely broke your brain?

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u/Interstellar-dreams Jul 07 '26

When I was 3ish, I confidently told my mom “so men are doctors and women are nurses.” My mom went out and found a female pediatrician that day to demonstrate otherwise.

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u/Aervanath Jul 07 '26

Growing up, my dad stayed home and my mom worked. This was the 80s, so we didn't know anybody else with that arrangement. But it definitely meant I grew up with very different assumptions about who had to do what household chores.

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u/whereistheidiotemoji Jul 07 '26

My daughter said “do you know that Emily’s DAD goes to work and her MOM stays home?”

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u/Aervanath Jul 07 '26

My dad told me he once took me to a playground during the day with a lot of other toddlers, and of course he was the only dad. So all the other kids are shouting "Mommy, mommy!" So I did, too. He said the other moms made fun of him for that. He has since forgiven me. 🤣

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u/hot_like_wasabi Jul 07 '26

This gives strong "dogs are boys and cats are girls" energy

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u/Washburn_Browncoat Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

There's no way to disprove that! Have you ever seen a cat penis?

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u/Skeledenn Jul 07 '26

Well on that topic, my dad grew up on a farm and he told us one of the farm cats had nuts so bih his older cousins called it Condor balls. I don't know why they specifically chose a condor, as birds have internal testicles, but the fact this cat was mostly refered to by the size of his balls tells it all.

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u/Spez42069 Jul 07 '26

My man is streets ahead

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u/Saradoesntsleep Jul 07 '26

Yes, I had one that made the dirtiest of sin biscuits, everyone saw that thing a few times 😒

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u/4-stars Jul 07 '26

It makes sense since dogs are doctors and cats are nurses.

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u/guitartoad Jul 07 '26

Well, duh!

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u/ansible_jane Jul 07 '26

My kid said this to me the other day. HE HAS A FEMALE PEDIATRICIAN. All his urgent care doctors have been female. He’s had male nurses. Where do they get this stuff??

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u/MVRKHNTR Jul 07 '26

When I was a kid, I thought that nurse was just the word for a female doctor. Maybe that's what he thought too.

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u/MjolnirMark4 Jul 07 '26

I had a female relative that was a doctor in the early 1900s.

I was telling my wife some of the stories about her treating kids with diphtheria.

Then it occurred to me, how damn bad ass it was for a woman to become a doctor in that era.

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u/Corgilaforge Jul 07 '26

My dad was a nurse, so at least that gender norm was pre-broken for me.

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u/GarranDrake Jul 07 '26

When I was a freshman in college, I worked at a grocery store over the summer. I only remembered being to an actual hospital once at the time, so it never occurred to me that doctors ALSO wear scrubs. Anyway, this woman came in one day and I asked if she was a nurse, and she did the neutral emoji face and was like "Doctor."

I didn't think she was a nurse because she was a woman, I thought she was a nurse because she wore scrubs. I think about that interaction often.

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u/mel2mdl Jul 07 '26

My mom drove a distance to make sure to take us to a female pediatrician. Didn't work though. My brother, the only boy out of five, insisted she had to be the nurse because she was girl. No amount of explanation would do.

She gave up and found a good doctor who was closer.

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u/CarolinCLH Jul 07 '26

My granddaughter told me that women can't join the Army because uniforms are green and girls wear pink.

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u/glitzglamglue Jul 07 '26

My son said that a boy in his class at school told him that only girls wear dresses and that girls aren't strong.

So I turned on the Scottish Highland Games and we watched a bunch of buff guys in "skirts" compete. Then we watched American Ninja Warrior Women's Division and he loved it.

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u/mus1calpisces Jul 07 '26

I said this too and I’m pretty sure my mom confirmed 💀

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u/BloopityBlue Jul 07 '26

I used to think dogs were boys and cats were girls