grown-ups

I used to think that once you get married life would be happy ever after, and that Prince Charming really did exist.

I used to believe…

My grandpa told me that one in every four kids were chinese. Since there were four of us, I belived for the longest time that i was chinese.

I used to believe you had to marry your siblings when you grew up.

I used to believe…

My parents were both twenty when they got married. I thought for sure that I would be married when I was twenty, and that all nice people were.

I used to believe…

When I was little, I was watching a television show in which the teenage
daughter was pregnant. I remember thinking, "That's stupid, you can't be
pregnant if you aren't married!" My parents, of course, had told me that
being married was a prerequisite of having children, and I took that
literally.

I used to believe…

When I was about 7, I was riding in a car with my grandmother and a Temptations song came on the radio. I told her 'you know this song', and she said 'No I don't recognize it'. I was sure she was lying to me because she was old and so was the song. It took me several years to grasp the idea of the generation gap, and that the Temptations were popular when my parents were teenagers.

i used to think that it was a law that people with the same color hair had to get married to in order to ensure that their children had the right color hair. this was corroborated that both i and my parents have dark brown hair. i was very confused when a friend of mine had dark hair but his mother was a blonde.

I used to believe…

My family used to pray before dinner with the phrase "Watch over us" but my brother and I always thought the line was "Watch O' Russ." We had an uncle named Russ, so it made perfect sense. We just assumed he needed more help than others.

I used to believe…

In a misguided attempt to explain genetic traits within families, my dad told us that if you couldn't "roll" your tongue (curve the two sides up together) that you were adopted. This theory caused a few problems for me at school that next Monday morning.

I used to believe…

when I was young my dad was a fireman. My mum tells me that for years I was convinced fire engines were really called 'daddy daddy nee nors!'

I used to believe…

My friend's five year old son can not understand the concept that his mother and I were friends before he was born. Whenever I kept him he thought I was a teenager like his other babysitters. One day he was being particulary rude and I explained to him that I was an adult just like his mother, and in fact am older than she is. He thought about this for a minute and replied, "Yeh but my mom is taller than you."

I used to believe that my sister was not human, but infact an angel. Her shoulder blades indicated where her wings used to be. She told me that they were cut off by my parents. However, she could still travel up to the heavens by wrapping herself in curtains and spinning. I was terrified of losing her.

She was 4 years older than me- so I believed every work.

I used to believe…

My bigger brother always convinced me that no matter how much I would study and smarter I would get with the years, he would ALWAYS be just exactly 2% more clever than me. And there was nothing to do about it as he was the first borned.

I used to believe that everything was known, and adults knew everything, and that the only reason I didn't was that I was just a kid. I still remember how upset I felt when my mom said, "Well honey, Mommy doesn't know everything!"

I used to believe…

When I was small, I used to believe that adults knew everything and never made mistakes. Now that I am one, I know better, but I am reminded of my own thoughts as I look into the innocent eyes of my three-year-old grandson.

I used to believe…

When I was very little my grandma once told me that "Exit" meant "quiet" and that you had to stop talking. This worked great for my parents, when we would go places, if I started crying or whining or whatever, they would just point to an "Exit" sign and that would shut me up. But then one day Dad brought home an old "Exit" sign and hung it up in my room, for laughs, I was so upset!!