Odd things you believed in as a kid

[woodhutt]

What odd things did you believe as a kid?

As a nipper, my Dad used to tell me that if I went to the end of the street on New Year's morning, I'd see a man who had a nose for every day of the year. I'd faithfully trot off on the due date to catch a glimpse of this phenomenon, even believing one time that I'd just seen the back of him as he boarded a bus. It was a couple of years before my older brother let me in on the gag.
Pete

[woodPixel]

I believed that movies were made just by a whole lot of people turning up and being spontaneous.

Filming just started. No planning.

[woodPixel]

I also had two, now odd thoughts:

-- Hotels and motels were public infrastructure, like the library or roads. I believed that pretty much every large building was somehow "the government". I had no idea a person or company would own such a thing.

-- My grandfather would place a bet for me each Melbourne Cup day. My mother and grandparents would use the term "He bought me a horse" for some reason. I absolutely believed I OWNED that horse and wondered what the hell I'd do with it. I was so confused.

[robbygard]

when i was between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 we lived on a farm at bellingen ... i believed (from a noddy/bigears cartoon in womens' weekly) that the world was flat .. ( times were hard and my father worked away and was a bit if a stranger to me ) ... he told me that it was round and spinning etc but i went outside, jumped into the air and landed in the same place so didn't believe him ... even after we got out of the farm and back to sydney it was some years before i trusted anything he told me

regards david

[rwbuild]

I believed that thunder was God rolling an empty water tank around trying to catch rain (growing up on a farm there was a very distinct similarity to the tank sound)

[Tonyz]

my mother had eyes in the back of her head.

[Dazweeja]

1. My concept of the Government was a building where they kept bombs in a cupboard. The type portrayed in the cartoon's, black, round like a bowling ball with a wick at the top. I even thought through the how the cupboard was built. I envisaged a door without a sill so the bombs could be rolled in and stored on the floor so there was no chance of dropping them.

2. I thought my mother was perfect. I had no concept that everybody has failings. There was only good and bad in my world and my parents were good. Bad were only the robbers.

3. Further to that point, if I thought about bad people when going to sleep, I could settle myself in the scary darkness of night as I had a plan. Should the robbers arrive at night, I was going to talk their ear off and distract them from whatever my imagination told me they did until the Police arrived.

4. I very suspiciously believed my mother that I would drown if swam straight after eating.

Thinking back, it was a simple existence. If life was only this simple...

[Dazweeja]

I believed that thunder was God rolling an empty water tank around trying to catch rain (growing up on a farm there was a very distinct similarity to the tank sound)

I was told that God was dancing because it was raining...

[Dazweeja]

What odd things did you believe as a kid?

Great idea for a thread.

[Simplicity]

I was told on the evening of 24 December every year, a Fat man in Red Clothes would come down our fire place Chimney,I did actually do a physical check of the fire place, no way could a fat person get down that!!!
I also for some unknown reason, always found my father having a beer at 3 am by himself, at the front door, very early morning every 25 of December.
That beer was meant for the Fat man who come down the chimney,Dad not you, Mum will be very cross.
Apparently he also brought all the presents we found on 25 December each year, and were then made to wait till after lunch to unwrap,which took for ages to finish, because the old people ate sooooo soooo slow.

Cheers Matt.

[woodhutt]

Just remembered another.

If you swallowed chewing gum it would wrap itself around your heart and kill you.

Honest! It will!
Pete

[AlexS]

I believed that thunder was God rolling an empty water tank around trying to catch rain (growing up on a farm there was a very distinct similarity to the tank sound)

When I was a toddler we lived in Mt Mulligan, west of Cairns, within sight of the mountain and the King Cole coal mine. I believed that thunder was old King Cole rolling the lumps out of his brown sugar. (Because of the humidity in the tropics, brown sugar always had hard lumps in it that Mum used to roll the lumps out with a rolling pin.

[rwbuild]

Eat your bread crusts, it makes your hair curly

[TermiMonster]

When I was about 3, we went to the Fitzroy gardens and went to Capt. Cook's cottage. Later, I asked how come Capt. Cook's cottage was in Australia. My uncle said that they swapped it for Ned Kelly's hide out. Naturally, I believed it.
When I was in First form at school, the subject of Capt Cook's cottage came up. Someone asked how come it was in Australia. Being a diligent student, I put up my hand and gave the reason (as above). You can imagine the shrieks of laughter and ridicule.....hmmmm...

[Tonyz]

Eat your bread crusts, it makes your hair curly

and you have a problem with that? before I shaved my noggin I had very curly thick hair, I always ate my crusts, often my brothers as well. They are bald as bowling balls.