Weird Childhood Misconceptions
 

Just wondering what kind of strange ways we tried to make sense of the world when we were young.

One of my most bizarre misconceptions when I was very little (like 4 and 5yo) I used to think that movie makers who wanted to make war scenes first had to place 'wanted' ads in the newspaper for men who wanted to commit suicide, so they could be used in the war scene for the people that died. I remember thinking this especially in relation to cowboy and Indian movies. I'm glad I worked that one out before too long!

Anyone else remember thinking some strange things?

My granddad was a general practicioner. Back in the "old days" GP's did everything from basic medical care, to surgery, to "popping babies". When he would get a call from his Exchange that a woman was in labor he would leave the house cheerfully telling us he was off to pop a baby. My childish brain had a terrible picture of him pushing on a mom's tummy and the baby somehow just popping out of her. Was never sure when I was little how or where, but it sounded just awful to me and certainly not something to be cheerful about!

When I was about 3 and visiting our new house still under construction, Daddy said, "that's where the telephone will go" (plug evident on the wall), andI thought I could kneel down and talk to my grandmom by putting my mouth against the spot....and he encouraged me! I've never forgotten that; I guess their laughter made me wonder about it long enough to make it a memory.:rolleyes::p

Jan in VA

I used to think when you heard music on the radio, there was a live band in the radio station playing it.

One of my cousins thought the moon was a hole in the sky.

When you put coins in the parking meter they go down the tube and roll along underground to the police station!

My father had a cousin who drove 18 wheeler's and and would PU loads all over. I thought when he picked up Caterpillars they were the long bugs that crawl on the ground and wanted to know why he would do that.

For awhile any time my friend from next door and I would stop playing and pray whenever we heard a siren and I also thought there were live bands at radio stations

I was a pretty gullible child so I believed just about anything people told me.

From Dad: The neighbor's sheep had black faces because he fed them coffee.

The bull was playing leap frog with the cows.

From a cousin: Angels used sunbeams to slide down to earth, saving their wings for the flight home.

Don't eat soft eggs or a baby chick will form in your stomach. (I can't stand loose eggs to this day)

But on my own, I couldn't figure out how trombone players could swallow all that metal when the pulled the slide back toward themselves.

I used to lie on my back in the summer to look at the clouds and when there were those skittle ripply clouds I thought each little ripple was a soul in heaven.

My DH was given a waterbed when he was 7. After seeing the movie "Jaws", he refused to sleep in the waterbed for 2 months. He slept on the floor instead, because he thought the waterbed was connected to the ocean and that Jaws would swim up from the depths of the waterbed and eat him. MIL & late FIL loved to tell that story...

Before my mother learned how to drive, she thought that the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe pushed the car forward.

I can't think of any I had as a child, although I'm sure if I asked my mom, she'd be able to think of a few that I'd come up with.

My friend Janice would tell me that dragonflies (she called them sewing needles) would land on your mouth and sew your lips together. I didn't believe her though....

I couldn't understand why people were buried when heaven was "up there."

I couldn't understand why coal miners weren't allowed to buy cigarettes. (It said "No Minors" on the vending machine!)

How come there was a special tax on 'daddy's railroad'----the B&O tax.

(Oh, I'm nasty.....!) I used to think that the beer Daddy and my grandfather drank at our picnics was pee! I mean, I had brothers, I knew that stuff sometimes got foamy when it was fresh!!:shock::shock:

Took my living in Germany in the 1970s to get me to try a beer on my own, and I still can't stand to see the foam.

Jan in VA

We used to take sawdust and make marks on the ground to represent walls and rooms in a house. We used to think if we left the sawdust there, trees would grow in its place.
Every time it stormed we always thought they were bowling up there in heaven.
We used to think our Barbie hair would grow back after we cut it.
Watermelons and apples would grow in your stomach if you swallowed the seeds.
If you swallowed gum it would stay in your stomach. I imagined each piece of gum I swallowed would stick to the other ones I swallowed. When I was told it would eventually come out, I had a fear of that huge wad of gum in the toilet. Sticking to it was the nickle from the tooth fairy that I swallowed when I was 5.
In the olden days everything was black, brown or white.

My Mom always told me you had to be very very careful when picking up a new baby as their heads rolled around......I interpreted this to mean their heads came off and rolled around on the floor. I was in my 50's before I would ever pickup a new baby!

If I swallowed a watermelon seed one would grow in my stomach.

My uncle had us believing that if we poured salt on a birds tail it couldn't fly and we could then catch it (a ploy to keep us all busy!).

The best is my husbands memory ... they were not wealthy. Mom told him he could have either buttered bread, or bread with margarine and jam - but never butter AND jam. Husband thought it was because the two together was poisonous!!

I was in my late 40s when I realized the VW bus we had when I was 6 or 7 was a Micro-bus. I grew up thinking it was a Michael-bus. LOL I'm sure my parents thought it was cute and didn't bother to correct me.

My memory is not working this morning and I can't think of a thing. :-( But I am really enjoying reading all these posts. Thanks ya'll. Have a great day.

I hate to admit, but I still have those kinds of moments in my 30's!! The other day, I was thinking (way too hard, obviously) about the show "The Dukes of Hazzard". I realized that there were at least 5 cousins (remember the season when 2 cousins replaced Bo and Luke?) living with their uncle. That means that Uncle Jessee had at least 5 brothers (the kids all had the last name of Duke) and each had a child. Ok, not that unusual. But why were they living with the ONE brother that apparently didn't have ANY kids??

Some of my other childhood misconceptions probably stemmed from watching the Dukes, too. And hanging around with neighborhood boys who watched the Dukes.

[QUOTE=ptquilts;5248894]I used to think when you heard music on the radio, there was a live band in the radio station playing it.QUOTE]
I use to think the same thing... Imagine my disappointment when my father took me to the radio station i was about 7 or 8 ... I also use to think if you turned off the tv your show should still be on when you came back and if it wasn't someone else watched the tv while you were gone. Ok so I was 5 LOL

My husbands was..he thought he could save Captian Kangaroo so his daddy could watch it when he got home from work if he would just shut the TV off.. he also use to watch his mom bake all the time, and he got the idea if they laid his mommy on the floor and used the rolling pin to roll her out..she could be taller and skinnier also. She is 4' 11".

Mine was running behind the TV to see the tail on the elephant.. I knew if I looked behind the TV,... I could see the tail. The other was we were getting a new TV (first color TV we ever bought) and I had told all my friends..we were first in our area to get one..so after they delivered it we were all going to watch TV in color. 5 of us in all came in to watch TV.. it was turned on and our kids show was on... I cried so hard, because it was still in black and white and my parents lied to me and my friends. I had no idea the program had to be made in color to start with. I thought the TV just did it. lol

I remember thinking that all the colors outside (trees, grass, flowers, etc) went away when the sun went down. They looked black and grey at night. Sunrise put the color back!

That you could get pregnant by swallowing a water melon seed.

My parents always told us that holding puppies/kittens too long would "give them worms". My sister & I just couldn't figure out how much was "too long"!;)

I used to believe that if you touched the prongs of an electric cord plug too soon after you pulled it out of the wall, you could still get electrocuted; that you had to give the electricity time to drain away. I'm still not sure it isn't so, but I'm taking no chances. LOL

My youngest son recently told me that when he was little he thought the pic on the entertainment center was of his dad, his bro and him. It was actually of MY brother, his son and his DAUGHTER! My son said he never could figure out why we dressed him like a girl...lol!!!

Diannia

Ah yes, the watermelon seed.....it spawned a lot of threats. For me, it was if I swallowed one, I would have a watermelon grow out of my belly button......I still think of that when I eat a seeded watermelon and I'm old....HeeHee! I could die if I swallowed my gum too.....I never did! God made cows with one side of legs shorter than the other so that they could walk around mountains......

I don't know how to explain this, it sounds so dumb... but when looking at a mountain, I didn't know the ground got higher, I thought the trees got taller!

Also, I used to be in charge of being on the look out for "Falling Rocks" so the whole car would be safe!

For the longest time, I thought The Titantic was the only ship to ever sink

These were fun to read and here is one of mine. From the time I was old enough to appreciate sunsets, (age 8 or so) I thought that if I held my fingers up to my eye in the shape of a frame and clicked with my tongue, I would take a 'picture' and then when I died, I would get to see all these pretty sunsets in a photograph book in heaven. Well, since I am still here, I am still not able to ascertain if this will happen or not. Ha! That is assuming I go 'up'. :-)

From grandpa: Eat watermelon seeds and one will grow in your belly!

From me: If you had sugar diabetes, it was caused by eating too much sugar. The sugar would start building up in your toes (literally your toes would fill up with sugar!) and they'd have to cut off your toes, then feet, then legs....
You get the picture.

A whole year of taking money to school every Friday for the black babies and no black babies ever arrived.
Many tears were shed over that!

Love this one,I did the money collection for the babies too, called them pagan babies. I liked the idea of having my own "pagan" baby somewhere.

:o

I thought that they waited for the young star of a movie to grow up before they could finish filming it. lol

Being told our belly buttons were where we were "put together" never made sense to me. We always searched ditches as we were told baby girls were useless and were thrown in ditches when born.

When I was six and had just learned to read, I found a box of "sanitary napkins" in my older sister's half of our closet. I thought that if they were "sanitary", then they must be for really special occasions. But then I couldn't understand why my mother was so horrified when I brought out that box of special napkins to put on the table when we were having company for dinner!

When I was small I just could not have someone touch my Belly button!!! Even after I was married!! I thought It would come untied!! LOL I'm SURE my Bro DID that one.
Also my mom said "if you had dirt in your ears and swallow a Watermelon seed it will grow out your ears!"
And at night I thought There were Snakes Covering my floor! I couldn't get out to go to the potty!!or make a sound or they could get me!!

My grandson wanted to know who was going to sleep in HIS bed (at home) when he came to sleep over at our house. Apparently all beds are in use at all times and people just rotate thru them! :D