What are the things you knew as a child but realized you were fooled?
By chiyochan
@chiyosan (30184)
Philippines
March 18, 2013 8:17pm CST
Thinking of our childhood... I have thought of so many things about what i have learned back then, from friends, play mates, class mates and even from our parents! These where hear say, or sayings that adults use to scare children... so they would behave... have you been a victim yourself?
Here's what i have in mind right now:
1. i thought santa was real - i hang stockings and get gifts!! why blame me heheh
2. we were told before that during Lenten season, you cannot or it is bad to take a bath on good friday ( i do not remember what it is that my mom told me)
3. you cannot eat in the dark, because if you do eat in the dark, spirits will join you and eat with you (scary)
4. mom told us its not right too step on pillows because it will make someone die?! - now i know she is scaring us so we won't get the pillows dirty jumping all over our bed.
5. i was told as a kid you cannot have too much bubble gum because you will develop mumps.
6. if its new year's eve you should jump because it will make you taller. hahaha :P
7. my mom would also use a tactic to scare us into finishing our food that if you do not finish your food, every bits counted will be the number of pimple covering your face! hahaha
8. some of the elders would say too that you shouldn't be pointing at mountains or at trees, especially if the area is full of plants, trees, etc because there could be spirits that would haunt you and follow you.
9. You should not sing when you are cooking because you are bound to marry an old man.
10. its bad to cut your fingernails at night, because someone in the family might die.
I thought these were true back then but nah, of course now i know better! Any similar thoughts, you knew about when you were a child? Let's see how much we do remember. :D Or maybe you can share what you tell your kids and they thought it's the truth? :D
13 responses
@redtesha (1773)
• Indonesia
1 Apr 13
Well, when I was a kid, my fams keep told me there's not good to cut my playing in the night, they said scary ghost will take me from my family to his scary house ..
Kid should go to sleep in the night, everytime it already at 8 p.m.
Now what I know is the best way to keep your child to stop playing in the night is telling the scary story, lol ..
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
20 Mar 13
I believed that Santa Claus was real. When I was a child one of cousins played Santa Claus. He dressed up as Santa Claus and then he knocked on the door. I opened the door and I was very excited because I thought that the real Santa Claus had come to visit us 
My grandmother was very superstitious and she told me about the many things that I wasn't supposed to do in order to avoid bad luck. I once got a book about palm reading and I wanted to read my grandmother palms, but she said: "No, no, no. You must never do that, that is very dangerous, a person from our family is going to die if you look at people's palms" I believed her and I never used the book about palm reading 
My grandmother was very superstitious and she told me about the many things that I wasn't supposed to do in order to avoid bad luck. I once got a book about palm reading and I wanted to read my grandmother palms, but she said: "No, no, no. You must never do that, that is very dangerous, a person from our family is going to die if you look at people's palms" I believed her and I never used the book about palm reading 1 person likes this
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
20 Mar 13
Oh that was so cute of your cousin to have visited you and made you believe that santa is indeed a fact and a truth. :D
Oh is that true? i have never heard about this that looking at your palm is very bad that it will actually cause someone to die. =(
@aejey322 (1004)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
Santa Claus! maybe all kids really believe that he is true
I also do remember that we are told not to point at a rainbow, else our finger will be cut. So we just use our mouth and pout it whenever we see a rainbow then
Though we realized now that we were just fooled, it's still fun to recall those things.
I also do remember that we are told not to point at a rainbow, else our finger will be cut. So we just use our mouth and pout it whenever we see a rainbow then
Though we realized now that we were just fooled, it's still fun to recall those things.@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
Isn't it right??? its just so much fun remembering those times our parents would tell us just so we can stop bothering them. haha :D
I now remember they would even scare us if we do not wash and dress up the dirt would have a life of it's own. :) hehe
@passion4fassion (996)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
Yes 
i remember i hang up my shoe sack too waiting santa 
i remember i hang up my shoe sack too waiting santa 
@Hopefull90 (921)
• United States
19 Mar 13
We were too poor to be taught to believe in Santa Clause, tooth fairy, Easter bunny and as far as getting us not to do something we were just told not to do it if we knew what was good for us.
@Hopefull90 (921)
• United States
20 Mar 13
Can you imagine how much the tooth fairy would have cost them for 9 children?
@jayceeg1987 (293)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
Haha. Funny are the memories of my childhood and how I was being fooled like you. Mother told me not to take seat on pillows or I'll develop boils, do not clean the house in the evening as good luck is likely to disappear together with the trash. So might as well sleep with the trash all around you. Haha
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
that is soo true. i think i have heard this too so its like you must try not to mess things up at night because its not allowed for them to sweep the floor.
I have heard about the pillows and boils, too from other friends when we chatted about this. but its common too to write a wish and put it under your pillow so your wish would come true.? :D
@jayceeg1987 (293)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
Yeah, i remember that. i would put a note inside my pillow with the name of my crush and the words "i love ___" wishing that we'll be together someday. :D that someday is now and nothing really happened.
@cherigucchi (14876)
• Philippines
25 Mar 13
My parents told us that we should not go outside especially during the afternoon because there was a man with a sack who put children inside it then get their blood to pour it in the newly constructed house or building...can you imagine how frightened we were during that time?
Another was we, if we were not going to let mom get the lice out of our hair, they would soon grow so big and they would bring us to a volcano where we would be thrown away in the lava!
These are only few that I remember and sometimes I do tell these to my kids...at least to get even...that was a joke of course!
Parents really have their ways making their children believe so they would follow... and I don't know if it will still work on our kids today.
@biman_s (1060)
• India
19 Mar 13
Like many others have already posted above that they all used to believe in Santa, I too was no different from them. I used to believe that there Santa was really there and wait with the sock hung up for the gift that I needed.
Those were all so much happy moments. Its great to remember those moments again.
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
I use to believe on falling stars.
Imagine every night I kept staring the skies hoping/wishing for a falling star.
Then one night I knew I saw it and I make a wish (and I can't remember if that wish came true) hahahaa)
Now you can't fool the kids with this make believe stories.
Kids will surely laugh and might think we are fool.
How could a star fall on earth (stars are bigger than our planet)
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
I have also been told the same things when I was a kid. And I guess they were told for the reasons of making us behave as well as partly superstitious in nature. But of course, growing up, we have realized that they were all not true.
Now I ask you, would you be telling your kids the same, or have you already told them those? The only thing I have told my kids from the things you mentioned above was about Santa. Coz I feel that every kid's dream is having the thought of someone who gives them gifts during Christmas aside from their parents. My youngest is now 8 years old and no longer believes in Santa, but I do think that those years that he believed in Santa were great years for him.
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
Well i have no kids of my own, not yet. But i guess that is true, many kids would believe in Santa and this is okay with our parents, that gives kids the hope... and they imposed positivism - having belief on something, right?
I think I have used some of these in scaring my niece so they would just stop bothering me, or they would stop doing things that only messes up the place. :D
@jadoixa (1166)
• Philippines
19 Mar 13
yes me too, one thing being told to me, i can remember and also come to believe was "don't cut your fingernails at night, because if you do, a member of your family will die." i was very innocent then, also i feel scared to do some things back told to me then because i thought and believe it will happen when i do them. i really thought it was true. but nowadays when i can remember these things i can only smile or laugh because all these things are crazy and not true at all but if you tell this to little children they will really believe it. also i remember these:
1. if you menstruate, and if you wipe the blood on your face, your face will become flawless.
2. when you have menstruation and you jump 2 time or 3 times on the first day, you mense will only last for 2 or 3 days.
3. when you swallow seeds of fruits, it will grow inside your body.
4. don't sweep the floor at night because it is bad,.
5. also when i receive chain letters and read that i must make the same chain letters too because if not something bad will happen to me. so i really made the chain letters and placed it inside the church on the altar of religious figures.
@devonavis (1854)
• Greece
20 Mar 13
Have been told to eat every last bit of rice in my place or the palay will cry:) hahaha. Also, should take a bath everyday or else would have many lice in my hair then would carry me far far away:0
This is a nice post, pal. I was reminded of silly but effective things my parents made me believe when I was a child.
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
21 Mar 13
Oh i have heard the lice that could carry the person when they have a lot of it on their hair. hehe :D
hehehe our parents would have thought of many other things just so they can try to restrain their kids from not doing those that they do not want to do. =) thank you so much for your response.
@extremefun4fun (2908)
• India
19 Mar 13
I used to think and wish if I break the tv screen then I can go inside of that cartoon and have fun.
I was even thinking that santa is real, jinns can make our wishes to come true.
I thought if we swear on our parents then they would die on the same day or after.
and I was thinking when I grow up, life will be better .
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
20 Mar 13
hehe oh yeah my mom told me that when she was young she thought that the tv had real people inside them!! she even looked at the back if they were just hiding in there. ;)
That one is something i have thought of too. I have always doubted if that was true but i never swear (afraid my parents would die on us because of what i did) HEHE.
I think that one has happened to me too. i thought when you want to be a doctor, you just have to want it. i never thought you should be working hard for it. haha
@catchpazuzu (99)
• Portugal
19 Mar 13
I was fooled with the ideia that there was such a thing as a santa claus. I really believed it, presents mysteriously appearing out of thin air... quite suspicious I was. My dreams were crushed when I knew the truth ahahah! :D
