skin

I was born in the Watts area of Los Angeles in 1960. When an adult. I overheard an adult talking about the "colored" people moving to our block. I imagined a face with swirling colors.

Pete

When I was in Kindergarden, I had a friend that was black. She told me that during the summer, I would turn black and during the winter, she would turn white. I actually believed her.

Kathy

When I was in elementary school I absolutely loved African animals, safaris, etc. I figured that this must mean I was African American (strange because I'm very much Caucasian). I told all my friends "Hey, did you know I'm part African American?" We were so young they believed me.

amy

When I was in kindergarten, I used to think that if you didn't take baths then all the dirt would build up on your skin and grass would grow on you.

Tanis

When my little brother was born, I believed that the reason he has a dark complexion and I have a light complexion was because he had been born at night and I had been born in the morning.

Anon

I used to believe that the mole on my leg was from when my brother drew on it with a marker.

Lori

I thought the mole on my arm was from a bug pooping on my arm a long time ago

Anon

When I was about 5 my older sister told me that if a white person and a black person had babies they would be piebald (like my pet mice). My brother's best friend had parents of different colours and I spent a lot of time trying to see under his clothes where the patches of other colours must have been!

Debbie

I used to think that you could get a tan if you turned the oven on, opened the door and stood in front of it.

Anon

i thought that people got tans because they got enough reckls that it looked solid and that some people got freckles faster than others.

Sara

The sad thing about this one is that I wasn't even a kid - I was a young teen with new ZITS! I worked out in my head the idea that I could carefully but effectively remove them with sand paper. It did remove them in a sense, but did not have the desired effect. And it really hurt! A stupid believe (theory) but a true story. (PS - I only tried it once.)

Jon

I was a pretty sheltered child, and when I was about 5, my grandparents owned a Gunsmith shop. I was in the shop playing on the floor one day, and the Sherriff, who happened to be Black, came in to have his gun worked on. This was my perfect opportunity to ask him a question that had been burning in my mind for days. So I asked him, "Hey Mister, is your tounge black too?"

Imagine my Grandparent's embarassment.

Desiree

until LAST YEAR, I used to think that cellulite was caused by sound waves from using cellphones, and I was worried about using my cellphone too much because of it. but its just fat!

abby

i used to believe that when i had an itch or a tickle, it was because there were ants crawling beneath my skin

Willa

When I was little, I thought that because my mom used Oil of Olay lotion on her skin to get rid of her wrinkles, that that meant she was going to die. In reality, she was 27 years old. What was I thinking??

Samantha Kennedy

i used to believe that the brown birthmark on my arm was a coffee stain that had been there to long to be washed off.

julia hibbert

When I was little I heard about moles, the mammal, and became convinced that the moles on people's skin were actually the tip of burrowed mole's tails poking up. I had no clue how they got into your skin, but I became very scared of them.

Joe

I used to belive that a birthmark happened in the first spot a Dr. touched you when you were born. (mines on my butt) lol

S.R.H.

When I was five, I went on vacation with my friend. We were in the car and she turned to me and said "Where is your birth mark?" I said that I didn't have one. She then informed me that if I didn't have a birthmark I wasn't born. I was so freaked out for the rest of the trip and for years I pondered how I was alive.

Without a mark

On a day out at the beach when I was young and obviously hyperactive, I was told (and believed) that I would only get a suntan if I lay very still and was very very quiet - took me years to work that one out....

Minnie