When I was a little kid, probably 3 or 4, I would never go to my older sister, Julie, when she wanted me to (she's 9 yrs. older than me). Subsequently SHE came up with the brilliant idea of hiding in our closet and calling me into our room. When I innocently entered the bedroom, she'd throw the A&W bear (of whom I had an irrational fear) at me. Then when I started screaming & crying, & jumping up & down, she'd run over, grab me & say, "Come to DooDoo!!! I'll protect you!!!" To this day, I still can't go to sleep if the closet doors or bureau drawers aren't shut all the way.

Oh, the power an older sibling has to warp a poor child's mind...

Alicia

Up until this very moment, my brother has told me that I was adopted from the jungles of Africa. He would tell me that my Dad saw me floating on a leaf, and that one day, I would have to go back to my real parents. As a kid, I used to freak out everytime he brought it up. Even today, he still teases me.

Popats' 4

my Dad has always worn aboriginal hats as he used to live in South Africa. Ever since i could remember my Daddy has worn them so whenever it blew off in the wind or he dropped it, a part of him would disappear so i would chase it until I got it back.

I always thought it was a big part of him and me alone as i would always find Daddy by the hat he wore...and I still do.

Ellie (Devon)

When I was about 4 years old my mother would tell me that my father was actually Peter Pan in disguise. One day, when my dad was leaving for work, she told me he was going to Never Neverland. I completely freaked out thinking that he was going without me and that he would never come back. I figured, why would he...it's too fun there!

magali

When i was younger my family and i would often go to the movies. I was always facinated about the curtain walls and my parents told me that behind the curtains was a magical land. When you watched the movie the curtains lifted and you were in that land. Each cinemar had a different land behind the curtains. Even now if im sitting in the cinemar near the curtains i always have to look behind them to reasure myself its just a wall!

Tahlia. D

When my sisters and i were young we uses to watch "daniel Boon" on television,and at the very beginning of the show Daniel boon threw a hatchet at a tree and split it right down the middle,-- well our Dad told us he taught dainel boon how to do that- for years we believed that, we had no reason not to,we thought our dad was our hero-- well now we know how much he used to drink and came up with those stories-- ah, i still think he's my hero......

Skip's Second Daughter

i used to think my grandmother's actual name was Gramma!

el kristadore!

My big sister once told me that I was purchased by my parents at a K-Mart store on a blue light special. I believed that for a couple years until I brought it up to my mom one day. She set me straight after laughing hysterically.

Melisa Kelly of Bridgeport, MI

My Grandfather was the "biggest" kid I knew. He used to tell us stories that as kids we would believe every word he said. For example, one story he told us was that years ago he "won" the lottery and that he felt sorry for them and they would not have any more money, so he gave it all back. I think I believed that story until I was about 10 years old!!!

Anon

After watching an episode of Jackanory, I was convinced one of my elder brothers was an alien. I used to watch him all the time for any tell-tale signs.....I'm still not sure after 30 years !

Pete UK

I used to believe that everyone's father was a scary, mean man like mine, so I was extra careful to keep my distance from everyone else's father, too.

The Dark Side of the 50s

My sister, the youngest in the family, believed she was adopted until she was about 16. Because she was the only fair-haired, fair-skinned, blue-eyed person in a family of all dark, my brother and I had easily convinced her that she had different parents than we had.

When I found out she had believed it until 16, I asked her what finally tipped her off? She realized that no one with two small children, the youngest only 1 1/2, would adopt another one, then make up elaborate stories about the pregnancy, delivery, etc.

Rootie

My 26 year old daughter revealed to me about a year ago (while discussing
her own 3 year old) that she had grown up in fear of the threat I used when she
misbehaved... of "sending her back to the Indians". She thought she really had
come to me from Indians and I would return her like returning something you didn't
want to a store. Now I am ashamed I warped my child. (well almost ashamed)

Granny

When my kids were younger I used to tell them that there was a "big book for moms" and whenever I e.g. wanted a hug or something i said"you have to give me a hug - it says so in the big book for moms - that all kids have to give their moms hugs whenever they ask for it." My kids believed in the existance of this book for many years!!! And I got lots of hugs from them, too! :-)

Anon

My mother told my sister and I that we were from our fathers previous marriage, since she obviously wasn't old enough to be our mother. Since both of us had blonde hair and green eyes like our Dad, I had no reason to doubt this was the truth. For a couple of years I wondered if Dad would replace her too when she got too old. I was quite confused when I saw pictures of her pregnant.

lost child

When my brother was little he was a very friendly, happy, panty-hose lover! For some reason he loved panty hose so much that when mom wore them he'd pet her legs and coo like they were little kitties. Except they weren't panty hose...oh no..Acording to him they were " Ooooo... Poneytoes...!"

Sara Eichler

When I was little, I thought that Grandfather's were all missing fingers. Both of my Grandfather's were missing fingers on the same hand, one was missing one and one was missing two. I thought that according to how many Grandchildren he had he had to cut more off because the one who was missing two had 5 and the other one only had 3. My sister thought the same thing!

Elizabeth

When my mom put us to bed, she would of course always say, "Good night." This phrase became equated in my mind with the word "goodbye," and so I naturally assumed that my mother left every night after putting us to bed. Who knows, maybe one time she had said something about going to the store after we were in bed, and I assumed that she always left the house. I was at least 6 before I realized this wasn't true.

The strangest part is that this never seemed to bother me!

Dan

I used to think that my cousins on my mother's side were grandchildren to my grandparents on my father's side. What confused me was that one of my mother's sisters was one of my father's parents foster children. So it seemed logical.

Anon