People Confess The Stupidest Thing They Ever Believed As A Kid

People Confess The Stupidest Thing They Ever Believed As A Kid

Kids are particularly susceptible to believing in things that aren't true, due to their creative nature and active imaginations. For example, a writer in New York City once believed no women were allowed in Canada because his father said that they were taking a boys-only trip to Canada. Reader, when that young writer crossed the border into Canada and saw there were, indeed, women in Canada, he was distraught.

But this is easily not the craziest thing a child has believed. Parents feed their children white lies all the time so as to shield the child from the truth of the matter. Your parents may very well have done this to you.


Redditor u/gartering0oxe asked:

"What is the stupidest thing you believed when you were child?"

Here were some of those answers.

Money Forever

"I thought that ATMs just dispensed money on request, rather than being linked to a personal account, and never understood why my mum took out small amounts like 10 or 20 quid."-VonAshley

"My brother had a full on meltdown outside a KB Toys over this. He kept asking my mom for toys and we had each already gotten one."

"Finally she got sick of saying no so she said there's no more money and we can't afford anymore toys today. He stomped his feet and shouted 'Why are you doing shopping wrong?? You go to the money store (bank/atm) BEFORE we do the shopping. You're not asking them for enough!'"-saradams

Looking For Alaska...Or Was It Alaska....?

"I firmly believed there were two Alaskas. No clue why I believed that, I probably overheard something and misunderstood."

"I believed it so firmly that when my family flew to Alaska for vacation, when we landed I actually asked if we had landed in the right Alaska."-ClancyHabbard

Maiming Is Fun!

"My mother told me blood was blue until it hit the air and then it turned red. Can you see how this could cause problems for an inquisitive child?"-HoracePinkerTVrepair

"I draw blood and grown adults still ask me this. Blood is deep purplish red before it hits the air, so they're always asking why the blood in the tube is so dark. Veins only appear blue because of how the light reaches them through skin, etc."-SemTeslaGirl

Some of these are just straight up misinformation that even adults believe--but most of it is the product of kids' imaginations.

Dedication To The Craft

"I believed that actors actually die when the character they play dies in the movie. I thought that it must somehow be worth the fame or that they were sick."-Yab0iFiddlesticks

"My older brother explained that the actors were paid lots of money beforehand, and they went out and had a big party and spent all the money the night before they got killed in the movie. This is what big brothers are for."-deadwood

Yes, Ten Children Please

"Once I was playing with some toys and my mom was talking on the phone to her friend."

"I guess they were talking about kids growing up and having families some day because my mom puts her hand over the phone and asked me if I wanted kids some day and if I wanted boys or girls."

"I gave it some thought and said that I wanted one boy and one girl. For the longest time after this, I thought that it had been completely decided, like my mom was just on the phone with whoever you call to place an order for kids, and my order had been finalized."-danipim

Only Two Layers, That's It

"Teacher told us we only had two layers of skin, Dermis and Epidermis. I had a cut on my arm and a skinned elbow."

"I worried for weeks about what would happen to me if I wore out both of my layers before I got old."-KeithMyArthe

"I used to believe something similar but with blood, that blood didn't regenerate and everytime you bleed you lose blood and that you would eventually run out of it."-LegallyCringe

A Little Pleasant Reversal

"When I was about 10, my uncle and aunt had a dog. One day my mum told me that they'd sadly had to 'send her back across the country to live with the family they adopted her from.'"

"I called her bluff cos I was old enough to know better. Turns out she actually had gone back to live with her old owners - my uncle and aunt were struggling to find the time to care for her because they'd just had a baby with a disability that required all their attention."

"We went to visit the dog from time to time and sure enough, she was alive and well :)"-ConsiderablyMediocre

It is important that we recognize the role of these beliefs as a kid--similar to the way mythology governed human perception of the world.

It's Almost Like Theatre

"That people acted out movies every single time I watched them and sing songs on the radio live every time I heard them play. I would always watch/listen closely, just waiting for them to mess up"-andanotherone89

"Me too. I was gutted when a particular actress passed away (from old age) because I believe I wouldn't be able to watch the movie again. The movie that she filmed when she was young. Clearly I didn't understand aging either."-ohhhthehugevanity

Measuring For Names

"We got a lizard once and my mom said we have to find a name that fits her. I took that literally and kept checking her size and width to find a name her size but was extremely confused on how I was supposed to do that."-Entire-Addition4040

"That's adorable, did you ever find a name?"-Jops817

"Ya we did, I can't for the love of me recall what it was though. We ended up giving her to a friend since my brother wasn't putting any effort in taking care of her (it was his lizard)"-Entire-Addition4040

You Got PLAYED

"My grandma would send us outside with a salt shaker and tell us that if we could get salt on a bird's tail it wouldn't be able to fly."

"We spent hours trying to get salt on the bird's tails. It wasn't until I was an adult telling a friend about that childhood memory that I realized it was all a scam to get us out of the house."-AMANDAinKC

"That's adorable and really clever. I'm imagining you running around with your salt shaker and your grandma with her feet up enjoying some peace and quiet."-theMistersofCirce

See anything here that looks familiar to you? Anything similar about the experiences of these peopel to your own childhood self?

The best part of being a kid is that things don't have to make sense in order for them to have power. And while that contributes heavily to some situations like the ones above, it also contributes to the fun of childhood.

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