grown-ups

I used to believe…

As children, when my sisters and I fought, someone would always end the argument by exclaiming that they were going to tell mommy on the others. This always ended with the others begging desperately for the first to not tell. I was cnvinced that 'telling' on a person was somehow a magic way to get what you wanted. One day, I got very mad at my mom for not giving me my way, so I triumphantly declared, "Mommy, I'm telling YOUR mommy on you!" Not only did I not get my way, I couldn't figure out why my mom wouldn't stop laughing.

I used to believe…

When I was very little, I told my dad that when I was older, I would have a daughter called Rosemary, and her middle name would be Vulture.

I had my heart set on that name.

I used to believe…

When I was in my late teens, there was a magazine called 'Over 21' and I honestly thought that the newsagent would not sell it to me, bearing in mind this was in the 70s and the age of majority was 21. I bought the mag a couple of days after my 21st birthday and felt very grown up.

Yeah right, an age of innocence, but I still feel stupid about it and have never told anyone before!

I used to believe…

My naughty friend has a 3 year old son... and let me tell you she is starting a whole new generation of strange beliefs

She tells her son if hes naughty the garbage man is coming to put him in the bin

She tells him she has installed surveillance in his bedroom so santa can monitor him

So many other when i remember them ill post

I would see "Senior Discount" signs at places like movie theaters and restaurants, and until I was about thirteen, I couldn't wait until I was a senior in high school so that I could get special discounts.

I used to believe…

when I was about 4, my parents would tell me that children are brought by some big birds,so every time I had a fight with my brother, I would ask my mother to call that bird to come and take him back!!..

I used to believe…

when I was young, my parents would tell me and my elder brother that they bought us from a pair of gipsies that had too many children, unlike my younger brother who was royalty. having them say so all they time, I found myself believing it and had all those nightmares about my parents giving us back to the gipsies...!

I used to believe…

When I was about eight years old, a friend of mine believed that once a princess became married, she would immediately become queen. Because of this (and the notion that queens are washed-up old fogies who never do anything cool), she would never get 'married' while playing pretend.

I used to believe…

After watching too much English tv, I used to believe that only men named James could get married. When I realised there were hardly any men named James in Belgium (where I live) I cried for days thinking I'd never find a husband unless I moved to England.

I used to believe…

My sister said this last year... when she was 18! I don't know if this counts but she believed it when she said it and didn't get why I was laughing at her until I explained it to her very slowly.

Apparently she's always been under the impression that since she's one year older than me, she has known me for one year longer than I've known her.

I used to believe…

When I was a child, I used to believe that people just kept growing taller as they got older until they were the size of 100 foot giants. Then, after a certain height, they would move to a different place -- a city for giants. Every now and then when I played outside I would look out for giants walking to their new home.

I used to believe…

When I was about three my mom had to go to the hospital and when we got there I annouced I wanted a baby sister. My mom said ok not understanding I wanted to get one there. When it was time to go I siad "But I wanted a baby sister!"

I used to believe…

When I was little that when children grew up to be adults that they grew back down to be children and babies again. I never knew where old people came into the picture. I guess my head got screwed up somewhere.

I used to believe that Grandparents were assigned to their grandchildren. When I was four I used to ask my mom if her mom died and she would say "No, Grandma is my mom." I had to ask her a few times before I finally remembered it though.

I used to believe…

My mother had many misconceptions about things when she was younger. Her and her friends were imaginative - they would take a large piece of lint, run down the street as fast as tehy could, and think they were flying off to Candyland. She also thought the TV could hear her when she talked.

I must have been about seven or eight, and my little brother maybe four, when Uncle Ken came to stay with us for a couple of weeks, all the way from Australia. He wasn't a real uncle, just a friend of my dad's, but we'd never met anyone from Australia before. Naturally we wanted to know what his life was like.

He told us in all seriousness that he was an alternative kangaroo tamer. He would calm the spirits of rowdy kangaroos by playing them Rolf Harris records to hypnotise them. The kangaroos would bounce up and down in time to the beat until they fell into a sleepy trance.

I must have been twelve when it clicked that bouncing up and down did not lead to a hypnotic trance. Naturally it took another couple of years for me to be sure he'd been having us on.

I believed that, while my father went to work, he didn't actually have a job. That was because there were only three things you could do that were considered jobs: you could be a fireman, a policeman or a chef. I think I considered it important to have a special hat.

When I told my kindergarten teacher that my dad had no job, she became concerned.

I used to believe my grandfather was the Scourge of the Seven Seas!

My father would tell me tales of his father's great adventures as a pirate; my grandfather was an amputee, and he had a "wooden leg," lending massive credibility (I was maybe 4) to these stories. One day, my grandfather had a gift for me: a bag of golden coins. Even after I discovered that they were chocolates I thought "wow, he *really is* a pirate!"