# What was the silliest thing you believed as a child?



## Bretrick (Nov 23, 2021)

I believed that if I dug a hole deep enough I would come out in China. 
Every adult told me that as a kid.


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## JustBonee (Nov 23, 2021)

Silliest thing I believed as a child,  and I really did believe!     .... On my Grandparents farm where I lived for several years,   there was a Smokehouse, which as a little kid (4-5 yrs. old)   I  found mysterious,   and  'strange smelling',   and something I was told to stay far  away from.     
No problem with that,   as it kinda scared me.

I was  told the reason to stay away  is that it was  the home of the Three Bears, (hence the smell)  and they could come home at any time    ....

 I was in awe,  little naive me!!     ... I would just stand back from a distance and just stare at that smokehouse.  ..... LOL

They (Grandpa and a couple uncles)   played other tricks on me with stuff around the farm .... like "bird telephones"  .. the white ceramic things on the fencing.. . "that was how the birds called each other".  

Is that kid abuse??     ....  But  I really  loved farm life and thought I was the luckiest kid alive.


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## WheatenLover (Nov 23, 2021)

I thought women got pregnant when they kissed a man. I figured it out all by myself.


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## Shero (Nov 23, 2021)

I believed in Santa and I still do, so I guess I am still a silly child


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## dseag2 (Nov 23, 2021)

I was always told that if I swallowed chewing gum it would stay in my digestive system forever and would never come out.  I never swallowed chewing gum.   Also, Santa and the Tooth Fairy.


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## Chris P Bacon (Nov 23, 2021)

I believed that most people are decent and kind.
What a fairy tale THAT is!


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## dseag2 (Nov 23, 2021)

Bretrick said:


> I believed that if I dug a hole deep enough I would come out in China.
> Every adult told me that as a kid.


BTW, I was also told in the US that if we dug a hole through the earth we would end up in China.  That is not exclusive to Australia!


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## hawkdon (Nov 24, 2021)

When I was very young, I believed if it was raining outside our home, that it was raining all over the world at the same time!!


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## Bretrick (Nov 24, 2021)

L


hawkdon said:


> When I was very young, I believed if it was raining outside our home, that it was raining all over the world at the same time!!


Logical thinking for child who never knew how big the world was.


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## horseless carriage (Nov 24, 2021)

In the 1950's the BBC ran a clever April Fool hoax: A spaghetti tree. For years I was convinced that spaghetti grew on trees.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020...dience-into-thinking-spaghetti-grew-on-trees/


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## katlupe (Nov 24, 2021)

I thought when I went to sleep all my dolls came alive and danced, sang, laughed and had fun. I would try to stay awake to catch them but figured out if I was awake they would not come alive. It was magical. I wish it was true.


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## WheatenLover (Nov 24, 2021)

I believed in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. But not the Easter bunny ... it didn't make sense to me.


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## Gaer (Nov 24, 2021)

I had a thing for collecting rocks, quartz, moss agates, petrified wood, etc.
I found the most beautifully shaped piece of driftwood and dug a hole exactly a foot deep, so I could bury it and come back in a thousand years to dig it up again because it would by then, turn into petrified wood.


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## IrisSenior (Nov 24, 2021)

I was careful not to swallow an apple seed because a tree would start to grow.
Also, I didn't want to get married because every female I knew that did always got sick after (hence the baby born 9 months later).
Driving on the highway and exiting East to a town; I always wondered how I would get to the West side of it.
Boy, I was really dumb about some things.


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## RadishRose (Nov 24, 2021)

As a child I believed the moon melted away during the night and a new one came out the next night.

When laughing and joking around at the table one night, I accidentally swallowed an ice cube. Freaked me out!!!!!

My mother just said "so what?" it was then that I realized my mother really didn't believe how stupid her daughter was.


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## PamfromTx (Nov 24, 2021)

As a 4 year old, I was convinced by my parents that a stork had delivered my baby brother to our front door.

Uh huh....


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## AnnieA (Nov 24, 2021)

I thought musicians and singers performed live on air at the radio station.  Know that was how it all started off but waaaaaaaay before my time!


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## RubyK (Nov 24, 2021)

My father pretended he could see the man in the moon. I believed it for quite a while as a child.
Mom kept me busy in summer by giving me a shovel and telling me to dig to China. I stopped believing that when I realized, with my slow digging, I'd never make it to China!


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## RubyK (Nov 24, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> As a 4 year old, I was convinced by my parents that a stork had delivered my baby brother to our front door.
> 
> Uh huh....


When my Mom was a child her mother told her she found each of her 5 kids under rocks in the local river!


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## jerry old (Nov 24, 2021)

Mommies got babies by 'wishing' they could have a baby.


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## Ladybj (Nov 24, 2021)

Santa Clause.


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## Fyrefox (Nov 25, 2021)

I didn’t understand female breasts.  I thought that they were some kind of lung extensions.  This belief may have been fed by hearing some men comment, “_Look at the lungs on that one!”  _


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## caroln (Nov 25, 2021)

My sister once got me to eat a bowl of soup I didn't like by telling me there was a surprise at the bottom of the bowl.  I ate the whole thing and found a flower (pattern of the dishes) at the bottom.  I never fell for that again!  (I wonder what I thought I might find??)


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## timoc (Nov 25, 2021)

What was the silliest thing you believed as a child?​
*That my Mum* had an affair with Santa every Christmas.


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## caroln (Nov 25, 2021)

katlupe said:


> I thought when I went to sleep all my dolls came alive and danced, sang, laughed and had fun. I would try to stay awake to catch them but figured out if I was awake they would not come alive. It was magical. I wish it was true.


Like the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for!  I used to place all my dolls at the end of my bed when I went to sleep.  One night I had a nightmare they all got up and started walking towards me with real ugly looks on their faces.  I remember screaming and suddenly I was awake and Mom was there.  The only dream I remember from my childhood.


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## fuzzybuddy (Nov 26, 2021)

I wondered where people came from. If you're a boy, a part of your body has a kind of fold. I figured they had a mold, and poured stuff into it. When they unmolded you, they cut away all the flange. But since nobody looks "down there" they just left the flange.
Also, I'm much older than my little brother. When I was told I was getting a brother, I expected a kid to come walking in the door. When they brought my *baby *brother home, all I could think of was ........For once, why couldn't my parents spend the few extra bucks to get the kid that was already grown, and not get the cheaper "grow your own kid" version


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## Sassycakes (Nov 26, 2021)

I was only 5 yrs old when an older girl on my street told me and my sister there wasn't a Santa Claus. I ran in and checked every closet in my house and found a toy I asked Santa for.I never told my older sister the truth. I didn't want to spoil her Holiday.


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## Alligatorob (Nov 26, 2021)

I hope none take offense at this, none meant.

I grew up in the Bible belt US South, very conservative.  Learned to believe many bad/silly things but one that comes to mind is that anyone not baptized as a Christian would automatically go to hell.  My father worked with an engineer from Iran who was on a one year assignment to the US.  He had a son about my age, we were put together and became friends, I liked the whole family.  

When I discovered they were Muslim I was shocked, and questioned my faith for the first time.  How could such nice people be sent to hell?  But I believed (at that time) they would.

Sure seems silly now looking back.


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## RubyK (Nov 27, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> I hope none take offense at this, none meant.
> 
> I grew up in the Bible belt US South, very conservative.  Learned to believe many bad/silly things but one that comes to mind is that anyone not baptized as a Christian would automatically go to hell.  My father worked with an engineer from Iran who was on a one year assignment to the US.  He had a son about my age, we were put together and became friends, I liked the whole family.
> 
> ...


I was taught in Catholic school, that you wouldn't go to Heaven if you weren't baptized Catholic. I had some neighbors that I really liked and could hardly believe they couldn't go to Heaven. They didn't go to any church. I was so upset about this that I told my Mom it wasn't fair. She told me that it was not true because they were good people and would be saved.

That was the start of questioning my religion which I gladly left behind at age 20.


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## Tish (Nov 27, 2021)

That there was a monster under my bed.


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## feywon (Nov 27, 2021)

i am so grateful my parents didn't generally didn't make stuff up, they knew if they told me the real reason i should keep away from something or not do it i would use my common sense and listen. The exception was my mother when upset was prone to the 'Careful your face might get stuck in that frown' type thing, which i knew was a crock.
What i did believe, misunderstand on my own were two things.

1) i didn't know Ballerinas had special shoes for standing on toes, and i practiced doing it barefoot but despaired of ever being able to move gracefully while doing it.
2) i didn't know the Weekee Wachi 'Mermaids' (underwater performers) actually had hidden air hoses in some of the structures in the tank they performed him and things were so choregraphed so they could go get air frequently. Consequently i struggled to hold my breath while moving underwater, drove my sisters crazy getting them to time me.  Four minutes was my max.


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## Pappy (Nov 27, 2021)

You all ain’t gonna believe this, but I thought that girls were so special they didn’t go to the bathroom. I told you that you wouldn’t believe it. I was very small and not to bright yet.


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## Smiley Holly (Nov 27, 2021)

I think it would have to have been the Tooth Fairy. Although it is a very good idea getting money or a gift when you lose a tooth, but how did I go on for so long not knowing it was a mom and dad?


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## caroln (Nov 27, 2021)

feywon said:


> i am so grateful my parents didn't generally didn't make stuff up, they knew if they told me the real reason i should keep away from something or not do it i would use my common sense and listen. The exception was my mother when upset was prone to the 'Careful your face might get stuck in that frown' type thing, which i knew was a crock.
> What i did believe, misunderstand on my own were two things.
> 
> 1) i didn't know Ballerinas had special shoes for standing on toes, and i practiced doing it barefoot but despaired of ever being able to move gracefully while doing it.
> 2) i didn't know the Weekee Wachi 'Mermaids' (underwater performers) actually had hidden air hoses in some of the structures in the tank they performed him and things were so choregraphed so they could go get air frequently. Consequently i struggled to hold my breath while moving underwater, drove my sisters crazy getting them to time me.  Four minutes was my max.


I never knew that thing about underwater performers.  Learn something new everyday.


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## feywon (Nov 27, 2021)

caroln said:


> I never knew that thing about underwater performers.  Learn something new everyday.


At least one new thing a day is my goal.


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## Gary O' (Nov 27, 2021)

What was the silliest thing you believed as a child?​
I didn't

Nothing I was told did I believe
Not even Santa.....especially Santa

I did play the game, however
.....there were presents.....and candy

I don't know how old I was here, but wasn't buyin' into it all;


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## dobielvr (Nov 27, 2021)

PamfromTx said:


> As a 4 year old, I was convinced by my parents that a stork had delivered my baby brother to our front door.
> 
> Uh huh....


I still have my stork card!

I carry it in my wallet.....Idk why.


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## Smiley Holly (Nov 27, 2021)

I definitely believed in Santa.


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## RnR (Nov 27, 2021)

Smiley Holly said:


> I definitely believed in Santa.


I still do.


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## officerripley (Nov 28, 2021)

That if I prayed hard enough, I'd have a happy childhood.


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## StarSong (Nov 28, 2021)

I believed that similar to the way people sweat when we get hot, blades of grass sweat when they get cold.  Explained morning dew and frost nicely, if inaccurately.


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## Tom 86 (Nov 28, 2021)

Some old things.

WE ARE A GENERATION THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK.
A generation that went to school and walked back.
A generation that did their homework alone to get out asap to play in the street.
A generation that spent all their free time on the street.
A generation that played hide and seek when dark.
A generation that made mud cakes.
A generation that collected sports cards.
A generation that found, washed and sold empty coke bottles to the local grocery store for 5 cents each.
A generation that made paper toys with their bare hands.
A generation who bought vinyl albums to play on record players.
A generation that collected photos and albums of clippings.
A generation that played board games and cards on rainy days.
A generation whose TV went off at midnight after playing the National Anthem.
A generation that had parents who were there.
A generation that laughed under the covers in bed so parents didn't know we were still awake.
A generation that is passing and unfortunately will never return!!...


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## Giants fan1954 (Nov 28, 2021)

Not sure if this fits the category but I cut my dolls hair and couldn't understand why it wasn't growing back


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## feywon (Nov 28, 2021)

StarSong said:


> I believed that similar to they way people sweat when they get hot, blades of grass sweat when it gets cold.  Explained morning dew and frost nicely, if inaccurately.



Neil deGrasse Tyson says children are natural scientists: Always trying to figure things out--the whys and hows of the world. But i think it is a human trait. i frequently mention when someone uses the word 'superstition' pejoratively that actually the superstitions of early humans were the precursors to science.

They came about from observation, tho sometimes the conclusions drawn are flawed and many 'science minded people are reluctant to admit that even today's scientists with all their fancy equipment and 'studies' sometimes draw false conclusions too--because the study was flawed--influenced by what they wanted to prove or disprove, or because they conflated cause and effect or overlooked a third thing that might 'cause' both the effect and what they think is cause.

The conclusions of early humans that were later validated (moon cycles--regardless of what they thought caused the cycles--they accurately recorded the phases and 'schedules') usually seem a surprise to modern scientists who don't seem to get they are still prone to similar errors.  Tho at least in recent decades more of them are saying 'as far as we can tell', 'from what we know now' and similar qualifying statements about their theories.


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## Pink Biz (Nov 28, 2021)

That if two people wanted to have a baby together, they would make appointments with each other!!


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## feywon (Nov 28, 2021)

Pink Biz said:


> That if two people wanted to have a baby together, they would make appointments with each other!!


Ironically we now hear about some people who have difficulty conceiving who do exactly that, with the days/times being dictated by the woman's cycle.


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## Alligatorob (Nov 28, 2021)

feywon said:


> Weekee Wachi 'Mermaids'


I really liked the show, it was only about 1/2 hour drive from our house.  Whenever we had company it was on the agenda.  However I always knew about the air hoses.

Its a state park now, not sure if they still have the show.


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## feywon (Nov 28, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> I really liked the show, it was only about 1/2 hour drive from our house.  Whenever we had company it was on the agenda.  However I always knew about the air hoses.
> 
> Its a state park now, not sure if they still have the show.
> View attachment 196462


 At 5 or 6 i aspired to be one of them when i grew up. LOL. i was a little 'ham' in many ways -- there was a tour boat that cruised up/down the Little Manatee River (which lived on a bank of near where it emptied into Tampa Bay.  We'd show off by using the trapeze Dad had mounted on an Oak branch  near the water to swing out and dive into the river.  The tour guide on the boat would crack jokes about 'Those natives might look friendly but they are wild.' and we'd start acting like the 'native' extras in movies about  wild places shaking fishing poles as if they were spears.


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 28, 2021)

Given this some thought and the only thing I can think of is that there really was a Santa Claus.


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 28, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> I really liked the show, it was only about 1/2 hour drive from our house.  Whenever we had company it was on the agenda.  However I always knew about the air hoses.
> 
> Its a state park now, not sure if they still have the show.
> View attachment 196462


I *love* mermaids. Although I wished they were real, I never believed they were real. I wouldn't mind seeing the mermaid performers in person though. @feywon


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## Alligatorob (Nov 28, 2021)

feywon said:


> there was a tour boat that cruised up/down the Little Manatee River


Been on that boat tour!


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## feywon (Nov 28, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> Been on that boat tour!


Small world.


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## Alligatorob (Nov 28, 2021)

OneEyedDiva said:


> I wouldn't mind seeing the mermaid performers in person though.


Looks like you still can:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/weeki-wachee-springs-state-park/mermaid-shows


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 29, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> I hope none take offense at this, none meant.
> 
> I grew up in the Bible belt US South, very conservative.  Learned to believe many bad/silly things but one that comes to mind is that anyone not baptized as a Christian would automatically go to hell.  My father worked with an engineer from Iran who was on a one year assignment to the US.  He had a son about my age, we were put together and became friends, I liked the whole family.
> 
> ...


I believe some Christians are still taught this in one form or another...you've got to be "born again" for instance.


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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 29, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> Looks like you still can:  https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/weeki-wachee-springs-state-park/mermaid-shows


Not really. I'm in N.J. and although my Honorary son and his fiancee invited me to come for a second visit in January, they are in Tampa. Doesn't look like any live mermaid shows are in their area. The one at Weeki Watchee is an hour away. Being an invited guest, I wouldn't ask that of them. Not up for being in large crowds now either. But I can always view such shows on T.V. via You Tube.


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## Capt Lightning (Nov 30, 2021)

I used to believe that there was a God.


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## Tom 86 (Nov 30, 2021)

dobielvr said:


> I still have my stork card!
> 
> I carry it in my wallet.....Idk why.


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## oldiebutgoody (Nov 30, 2021)

In my youth I had been told (and believed) that you don't nap during the day or crows will come along and eat the skin off your bones.


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## oldiebutgoody (Nov 30, 2021)

horseless carriage said:


> In the 1950's the BBC ran a clever April Fool hoax: A spaghetti tree. For years I was convinced that spaghetti grew on trees.
> https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020...dience-into-thinking-spaghetti-grew-on-trees/
> View attachment 195864





You mean it doesn't???


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