I was born-in and yet I never realized that the Witnesses teach that Jesus is not a mediator for the normal people. I don't recall Jesus saying that only the 144,000 were included. He could not have b/c the canonical gospels were clearly written before Revelation was composed. I also knew they rejected the Trinity but not that MIchael was Jesus. Perhaps I blocked it out for survival reasons.
What I did learn was antiCatholic venom. My neighorhood was about 99% Roman Catholic. I knew Catholics and saw no venality. Also, I was too young to realize the European wars and the very low status of Catholics in traditional American life. People laugh about their relatives belief in the evil of "popery."
My family was active for generations. There are some Witnesses who truly know the latest interpretions from Brooklyn. I never knew any personally. My KH members could not tell who was the president. There is something wrong with any group's message that focuses more on what it is not than what it is.
I've explained before that this anointed business today is in stark contrast to what it was when I grew up. We believed that only those from Russell's days or perhaps early Rutherford could be remnant members. It was a generational view more than an internal decision. Now the WT states that the internal process is often incorrect. I feared the big A. It seemed closer and closer when my ggf's generation died. I gave it twenty years after his death as the outside date for the big A. The Wt started to teach that members in heaven before the throne of the Lamb fell away. You are not safe even in heaven.
As a kid, I feared my ggf could see me undressing or taking a bath from heaven. It bothered me. Since there was nothing I could to promote privacy and modesty from heaven, I simply accepted it. There is an excellent and funny book of accounts of what young children believe about God.