Journey into Parenthood: 35 Fascinating Facts That Every Parent Should Know

In 2019, a 98-year-old mother named Ada Keating moved into the same nursing home as her 80-year-old son in Liverpool to take care of him as he was in need of additional care and support.

2. In 2008, a woman who had been missing for 24 years was discovered to be locked up against her will in her father's basement for all those years. In a prison interview, her father, Josef Fritzl, said: “Just look into the cellars of other people, you might find other families and other girls down there.”

3. Charlize Theron’s abusive father was shot dead by her mother, in self-defense. This happened on a night when he sprayed bullets into Charlize's room door, which Charlize and her mother had held shut for protection. Upon their miraculous survival, her mother immediately shot him down.

4. Despite being advised to join the NBA after one year in college, Tim Duncan decided to stay in school for 3 more years because he had promised his mother, on her deathbed, that he would get his college degree. The move paid off, as he got drafted by the Spurs and won 5 championships with them.

5. Millennial dads are spending 3 times as much times with their kids than their fathers spent with them. Back in 1982, 43% of fathers admitted they’d never changed a diaper. Today, that number is down to about 3%.

In 1995, France found a man guilty of killing a teen girl, but he was able to avoid sentencing by hiding out in Germany. In 2009, the victim’s father (Andre Bamberski) hired a team to kidnap the killer out of Germany and dump him in front of a French courthouse. It worked, and he is now serving 15 years.

7. Gene Wilder got into comedy and acting because of his mother’s heart condition. His mother’s doctor told him to ‘Try to make her laugh,’ to make her feel better, leading to his conscious efforts to make other people laugh.

8. L. Ron. Hubbard’s own son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr. was highly critical of Scientology and claimed black magic was the inner core of Scientology once stating, “my father did not worship Satan. He thought he was Satan.”

9. Taylor Swift was born in a wealthly family. Her father is “a descendant of three generations of bank presidents” and worked for Merrill Lynch. At the age of 14, her family moved to Nashville where her father purchased a stake in Big Machine, the label to which Swift first signed.

10. A 60-years-old Japanese truck driver found out that he was accidentally switched at birth in 1953 at San Ikukai Hospital in Tokyo. His biological parents are a rich family and the infant who took his place grew up to be the Head of a Real Estate company. Meanwhile, he was raised by a poor single mother.

When J.R.R. Tolkien's son Michael signed up for the British army, he listed his father’s occupation as “Wizard.”

12. A Chinese father hired a ‘hitman’ to kill his son’s character in online games so that he would stop playing games and get himself a job.

13. In 1960, an Australian father won nearly $3 million in the lottery, with his picture getting plastered all over the news. Shortly after, his 8-year-old son was kidnapped for ransom and eventually murdered. This changed anonymity laws for lottery winners in Australia forever.

14. Steve Jobs often went to his biological father's Mediterranean restaurant in San Jose and even shook his hand. At the time, his dad didn't know that Jobs was the baby he gave away for adoption, and Jobs didn’t know that he was his father.

15. A woman in Mexico named Ines Ramirez performed a C-section on herself after hours of painful contractions. Fearing that her baby would be stillborn, she drank 2 cups of high-proof alcohol and used a kitchen knife to make the incision. Both the mother and the baby survived.

During the filming of Matilda, Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman; who played Matilda's parents; would take Mara Wilson on outings with their family to help the actress cope with her mother's battle, and eventual death, from cancer.

17. In 1913, a Nebraska man took a butcher knife and threatened to kill his wife and newborn son. The mother left him, remarried, and had the boy’s name changed to that of his step-father. The boy, now known as Gerald Ford (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.), later went on to become the 38th President of the United States.

18. In 2008, a 9-year-old boy named Nathan Thomson was stabbed in the face as he fought an armed intruder who tried to kill his mother, who was stabbed 8 times. After saving his mother from the slasher, he has been recommended for a bravery award by one of Scotland’s senior law officers for his heroic act.

19. In 1978, a man with a shotgun named Amos Atkinson held a Melbourne cafe hostage until his mother turned up in her nightgown and hit him over the head with her handbag. He gave himself up soon after.

20. According to a study, strict parents can turn their kids into more effective liars because children who are afraid, to tell the truth, learn more deceptive behaviors to avoid getting in trouble.

Jackie Coogan was a child actor in the silent film era who earned millions of dollars, only to find out in his 20s that his parents spent it all on jewelry and cars. He sued and the litigation resulted in the passage of the Coogan Act, which protects child actors.

22. Scandinavians are adamant about letting their children nap outside, even in cold weather. Parents report that babies take longer and deeper naps when they sleep comfortably bundled up outside.

23. When an Israeli day care began fining parents for picking up children late, the number of late pickups went up. Economists believe that parents had previously been motivated to be on time by a sense of guilt, and the guilt went away when it was replaced by a fine that most of them could afford.

24. 61% of Americans dread the holidays due to increased spending. 75% of parents with children under the age of 18 fear disappointing their children during the holidays.

25. The hormone, oxytocin, which triggers feelings of unconditional love and protection, is released when parents and children look into each other’s eyes or embrace. This spike is seen in both human and canine brains. We love our pets in the same way as family members, and dogs return this devoted affection.