A childhood belief about weather

I always thought that the layers of the atmosphere (ionsphere, stratosphere, etc) were separated, and that each layer was uniform throughout, rather than all the layers mixed together in a gradient. Also, I thought that atmosphere was contained in a bubble-like shield so all of the atmosphere wouldn't escape out into space. Ozone layer was also a type of shield (I always imagined them as a type of translucent shiny bubble), and the hole was a literal hole where there was no ozone at all. I guess that's what happens from looking at so many diagrams =P