What crazy things did you believe as a child?

[SinkGirl]

Just been discussing this with DH after realising that DT1 thinks that putting on his coat in the morning magically makes the school bus appear.

We were remembering things we believed as children, some courtesy of adult fibs but others... who knows?

Here’s some of ours:

• That the kidneys in steak and kidney pie are not actually kidneys, they just have the same name
• That the moon is only a few metres above our heads (blame the grandparent who said the moon was the same size as the dining table, plus child logic)
• That all cats are female and all dogs are male, or (much weirder) that poos are gentlemen and wees are ladies (this was me, and I have literally no idea where this came from - I even remember imagining a cartoon poo in a top hat, so I’m wondering if it was something I saw in a book?)

Obviously aside from Santa, Easter bunny etc, what obviously bonkers things did you believe as a child?

If you didn’t brush your teeth at night in the morning they would all full out. That if you lied your nose would grow. And if you didn’t wash your hands your stomach were be full of snakes and worms. All strangers wanted to show you puppies then take you. I think this was stranger danger

Vicliz24 that’s sweet

@46tistheseasonnottocoughin my uncle worked in a power station and we were told to not waste electricity or it would make his job harder!

When I was little I was very chatty and my dad used to ‘zip’ my mouth shut (like Zippy on Rainbow). I honestly believed I needed to be ‘unzipped’ before I could talk again! 🙊

I also liked to stay up ‘late’ - so my parents would switch the TV off, yawn loudly and say they were off to bed as it was so late, but I could stay up if I wanted. Worked a treat! I didn’t like sitting up by myself. I only realised this was a trick a few years ago 🤦🏼‍♀️

That God was watching you at all times, even on the toilet.
Ffs.

That people in foreign countries thought in English but when they spoke the words came out in french, Spanish, German etc

I just remember if I asked where my dad was going he would say “to see a man about a dog” I never Questioned this until I must have been 12

That you speak with the accent you do because of the air you breathe depending on where about in the world you live

That Coke (as in Cola, not the drug) was made from pigs blood

That you had to take your shoes off driving over the forth road bridge because if the bridge collapsed your shoes would drag you down

I absolutely believed werewolves were real

That I could fly but had forgotten how
I had very real recollection of our lounge whilst floating on the ceiling

When someone told me about pin the tail on the donkey, it sounded like the easiest game ever, and I was sure I would win. Nobody had mentioned being blindfolded! Even as I was waiting for my turn, I was sure I would be able to see the donkey. It was a shock when I couldn’t!

I was told that if I wore shoes on bare feet, my toes would disappear. Sandals were ok because I could see my toes were still there. At school, we were made to wear shoes without socks before PE: I was scared of losing my toes.

My dad lost his leg in a car accident in his teens. I very much misunderstood the idea of inheriting traits from your parents, and firmly believed that when I reached my mid teens my leg would drop off.

I firmly believed the moon was made of cheese for a long time, and thats where cheese came from. I thought astronauts were basically going to collect cheese from the moon

In primary school I shared a class with a boy who had Downs syndrome. He was a great friend and the whole class got on well together but one of the other students once told us that the boy had Downs because he'd picked his nose... we all stopped picking our noses and never questioned it for years

My Dad would tell me that my mum had gone to see a sailor with a spider in his pocket if I asked where she was, shut me right up as I was afraid she'd come home with it!

He also said all men had a little version of themselves in their throats that pulled their Adam's apple up and down

I don’t think I’ve seen my one on here yet. It still makes me laugh til this day.
Until I was (at least) 8 I believed babies were born from belly buttons!

@Polkadotties

That people in foreign countries thought in English but when they spoke the words came out in french, Spanish, German etc

I thought that too. My dad's family spoke a different language. I thought they really spoke and thought in English and pretended to speak this other made-up language if I was in the room. Paranoid child

I believed there was an actual character (a bit like the BFG but in a top hat dressed in white) who flew around lighting the street lights . I passed this one onto my children too!

I totally believed in the Sand Man and would fall asleep quickly before he came to send me to sleep (I was scared of him I think and when I had sleep in my eyes in the morning I knew he'd been!).

We also had a 'wee man's in the cupboard who would come and 'get you' if you went in there without permission. Think it was where the expensive crockery was/ treats we weren't allowed! I completely believed it.

I also thought that if my parents died my brother and sister would become my mum and dad (they were 11 and 12 years older than me respectively)!

I thought my mum was kidding when she said that she loved us the same amount as my dad but it was a different kind of love. I truly wondered why on Earth she would say that about someone she barely saw! Poor dad was lovely but worked shifts.

I believed that there was never any danger of me being locked in a cage, that only happened to boys. (Hansel and Gretel)

That the people in the television could see me

I was (light-heartedly) tricked into believing that there was a children's prison; did I want to spend the weekend or the holidays there, all alone with my cell door firmly locked, instead of having fun at home?

By the time I read Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang, I knew that it wasn't true - otherwise I think I would have been terrified!

I'm from Yorkshire and my grandma used to tell me about the holiday she'd been when she'd first got married. For years I thought it she'd been North't Broads. I even sometimes wondered what the Broads were North of. It was only when I was watching something on TV as a teenager about the Norfolk Broads that it clicked. I also thought Bruge was the Belgian name for Brussels until I was about 32.

LadyEv

I also thought Bruge was the Belgian name for Brussels until I was about 32.

I thought that until today! And I've been to one of them, just not sure which

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander

LadyEv

I also thought Bruge was the Belgian name for Brussels until I was about 32.

I thought that until today! And I've been to one of them, just not sure which

I only found out they were two different cities when my brother booked a trip to a Christmas Market in Brussels in few years ago. And I was saying to him how 'In Bruges' was a great film, thinking that's where he was visiting. He was like it is, but it's not where I'm going. He then sent me a screen shot of Google maps to prove they were two different places.

That the kidneys in steak and kidney pie are not actually kidneys, they just have the same name
On that front my dd thought it was "Snake and kidney"

That West Germany was a big shop full of wonderful things that smelt beautiful of expensive soap and coffee like my relatives from across the border. That WWIII was imminent (not sure whether that was really so far-fetched). I grew up behind the Iron Curtain.