Monday, December 05, 2011

Things you believed as a kid






Sorry for the lack of posting--two weeks ago I was in Chicago for NCTE/ALAN, and last week was right after Thanksgiving...and of course, I've been busy editing!

Yesterday I came across this fun post about "11 Silly Things You Probably Believed as a Kid". I think we may have posted something like this in the past, so forgive me if this is a repeat, but some of the things tickled me, like "All cats were female and all dogs were male" and "Blankets served as an impenetrable barrier from monsters."

When I was a kid, I had it in my head that forks were female (for me, the tines represented long hair), and spoons were male. When I was washing dishes, I would keep this in mind when putting them into the drying rack. Sometimes I'd put them in as little "families"--one big fork, one big spoon, and some little ones to represent the kids.

I also made sure to always pull the covers up around my neck at night so vampires wouldn't bite me.

Some other things I believed as a kid:
-That Adam and Eve were possibly monkeys. (I was trying to figure out how my religious beliefs and scientific beliefs could coexist).
-That if I loved my stuffed animals enough, they would become real (yes, I read The Velveteen Rabbit a few too many times).
-That someone was listening to my thoughts.

One of my friends believed that if you unplugged the TV while it was on, when you plugged it back in it would start from where you had unplugged it.


What were some of your silly (or not-so-silly) beliefs when you were younger?

10 comments:

Kate Higgins said...

I believed that there were no trees east of the Mississippi river. I grew up in the west where there were lots and lots of pine tree forests and someone said the forests back east didn't have many pine trees...just deciduous. Not knowing what 'deciduous' was, I just figured there were no trees.

Naomi Canale said...

That's so cute, Alvina! I love the silly T.V. thought, so funny.

For about a year I believed that scrubbing your face with rubbing alcohol would illuminate freckles. LOL! It didn't work, but I have grown to love them :)

Naomi Canale said...

oops I meant, eliminate.

Kate Higgins said...

Naomi...was that auto-correct on your 'smart' phone. I liked illuminate:)

Libby Koponen said...

I LOVE the knive, fork, and spoon families! That is really adorable.

Once I reread a book and it ended differently than it had before (obviously, my memory was at fault but that wasn't the explanation my brain provided).

So, for a long time after that, I believed that -- at least sometimes -- when I reread a book it would be different. Not that I would interpret it differently -- it would BE different.

Jo would marry Laurie, not Professor Baer -- well, I don't think I thought of that specific example, but I read books again very hopefully, wondering what would have changed.

The fact that it never happened again didn't deter me....it was quite awhile before I realized it was never going to happen.

Even when I was grown-up, I used to faintly hope....and who knows, if my memory gets worse, maybe someday it will really happen!--though not, alas, because the book itself changed.

posse said...

i believed if i thought hard enough, i could change the weather.

Naomi Canale said...

Thanks, Kate! That's so sweet. I wish I wanted to illuminate them as a kid, but I loathed my freckles.

Unknown said...

Love the way we type one thing and mean another, and sometimes the error tells us something we really need! Illuminated freckles--lovely! Such healing of a self-image offered there!

My childhood treasured belief was about the an enchanted world. My father read the Narnian Chronicles to us and Aslan talks about this "magic deeper still." That resonated with me then (and now)--I was sure that this "magic deeper still" was very real--as real as the Velveteen rabbit dancing just beyond the meadow. (yes--I shared that one!) As real as the Little Prince's love for a flower. As real as the Tin Man's heart ticking in a clockwork universe.

alvinaling said...

I love all of these! Libby, I wonder if the "ending changing" might actually become a reality, a new development in the era of eBooks... hmmm. I wonder. Kinda like "choose your own adventure" but different.

Tammi Sauer said...

I thought that if someone broke the TV screen, the actors could simply step out of the TV and into my living room.