How did we just…know…?

Reading through this sub has got me reflecting on the fact that neither parent ever told us not to tell anyone about the beatings, the name calling, the screaming, the general dysfunction. No one told us, explicitly, to keep it a secret. I don’t ever recall being told to pretend we were a happy family. And yet all 3 of us were Oscar worthy performers in public and their best spokespeople. It seems ignorant to ask: but how the heck did we just know to perform normalcy?