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Leg pulls you believed as a child!

(96 Posts)
Kiwigramz Sun 24-May-20 20:32:30

My lovely dad was in the Home Guard during the war. I was about 7 when he told me about the time they were doing drill and marching. He told me out of all the men marching he was the only one in step. I was very impressed. Next day at school I rushed to tell my friends about my clever daddy being the only one in step. I was so proud. It was a very long time before the penny dropped. grin

Purplepixie Mon 25-May-20 11:59:11

My mam said that I was found under a gooseberry bush and we had several in the garden so I went out there everyday to see if there were anymore of US! There never was and I remained an only child.

MamaCaz Mon 25-May-20 12:01:18

I think that my default mode was generally to disbelieve unless proved otherwise.
Even as a very young child, I remember not believing statements such as "stop sulking - if the wind changes now your face will stay like that," or around Christmas, "Father Christmas listens down the chimney so he knows if you are being naughty!" That said, I did believe in FC until I was about 8, even if I didn't believe in the associated threats, so I obviously wasn't totally unfoolable.

CraftyGranny Mon 25-May-20 12:09:59

I remember being sent to the shops for some Scotch Mist by an Uncle.

EMMF1948 Mon 25-May-20 12:10:54

My late Dad was a great fan of cowboy programmes and if the TV conked out he said it was clogged up with dead injuns. Very unPC days, the fifties.
Chewing gum was made of puppies' insides, I've never chewed gum, evn after 72 years.
The Snake Pass over the Pennines was covered with live snakes, I kept my eyes closed all the way and me feet well off the floor.

grandtanteJE65 Mon 25-May-20 12:14:14

It wasn't really a leg pull, but when I was three my mother was ill for a while. My father, a G.P. took me with him when he went to a local nursing home.

The nuns who ran it, took me out into the kitchen to "help" prepare afternoon tea. My help consisted of lying down on the lower tray of the enormous tea-trolley.

The sister pushing it, pretended she didn't know I was there, and huffed and puffed, and wonder aloud why the tea trolley was so heavy.

I really believed that the sisters didn't know I was there.

I hope they are enjoying Heaven.

BusterTank Mon 25-May-20 12:16:45

My dad told me Cilla Black was my aunt because our surname was Black . He also told me money grew on trees and I believed him .

EMMF1948 Mon 25-May-20 12:24:49

I told my daughter that there was a man sitting in the cash machine, giving out the money, she believed it for ages.

sodapop Mon 25-May-20 12:25:23

In my early nursing days the cadet nurses were sent to another ward for fallopian tubes.

trisher Mon 25-May-20 12:39:31

My dad used to terrify me by shouting up the chimney and calling Father Christmas "Old Nitty Whiskers" I was always convinced that if he heard he wouldn't bring me any presents.
I used to believe stepping on cracks in the pavement was dangerous. It's a game I now play with my GCs sometimes it's bears who get you sometimes it's crocodiles. They seem so much less gullible than I was.

Bijou Mon 25-May-20 12:45:27

My mum told us that it was unlucky to do sewing on a Sunday.

Elizabeth1 Mon 25-May-20 13:05:24

lizzypopbottle my dad said the very same when we drove on a road which had a sign liable to subsidence I too thought it would swallow us up perhaps we were on the same road lizzypopbottle might you you have been in Fife where the old disused mines were?

jennyvg Mon 25-May-20 13:05:39

My Uncle used to tell me that he had in his shed a very long ladder that you could climb up to the moon on, funny thing was he would never get the ladder out so I could try.

Lucylastic Mon 25-May-20 13:06:55

We lived near a zoo when we were kids and spent a lot of time there visiting the animals. When it came time to go home we would beg to stay longer, but our Dad would say "Come on now girls, we need to let the animals get away home for their tea."

I swallowed this story whole, and used to pity the poor creatures that lived a long way away, like the Tasmanian Devil.

Jumblygran Mon 25-May-20 13:09:20

My mother told me that eating frozen peas was very bad for you. I was in my twenties before I realised that she just wanted me to stop eating them.

lizzypopbottle Mon 25-May-20 13:39:10

Elizabeth1 Not Fife. More likely around Staffordshire ?

lovebeigecardigans1955 Mon 25-May-20 13:48:31

I was also told by dad that an apple tree would grow inside me if I swallowed an apple pip, arosebyanyothername and I was quite scared.
When my dear late husband worked in the stores of the engineering dept a young apprentice was sent to get a 'sky hook'. As he was a nice chap he racked his brains trying to think of something to give him so that the poor lad wouldn't look daft.

mcem Mon 25-May-20 13:48:45

My teenage girls were great fans of Neighbours.
Many times I told them how a storyline would develop and what would happen next. They were so impressed when my predictions turned out to be true.
I had to 'confess' that I was actually one of the soap's scriptwriters.
Took a long time for them to see that my skills were down to the eminently predictable plotlines!

Musicgirl Mon 25-May-20 13:53:39

Like many other families we have relatives in Australia (Ten Pound Poms) and as small children we really believed my dad when he told us that if we dug hard enough we would reach our cousins in Australia.

Musicgirl Mon 25-May-20 13:54:47

When we were at the beach l should have added.

Esspee Mon 25-May-20 13:56:01

We used to spend every summer in this country visiting my parents.
Every evening an ice cream van would drive into the street playing his music.
Our boys loved hearing "the music man" who came to play a tune for them before bedtime.
Many years passed peacefully then one day the oldest one asked his grandmother "Did you know the music man sells ice cream?" confused

daffers Mon 25-May-20 14:03:23

As children in South Africa we were told a watermelon would grow inside you if you swallowed a pip. For a long time I thought any pregnant women must have swallowed one.

annemarg Mon 25-May-20 15:48:36

I was a child during the war when food was scarce and I didn't like eating the crusts on the bread so to try to encourage me I was told that if I ate them I would get rosy cheeks and curly hair!!! Curly hair would have been OK but I don't know about rosy cheeks!!!

jacqui67 Mon 25-May-20 15:48:56

My grandad sent my brother to the shop for small circles so he could polish his boots the same way my grandad did when in the army

GreenGran78 Mon 25-May-20 16:06:15

I was a very naive child, very young for my age. When I was about 13, a girl in my class, far more sophisticated that me, jokingly asked if I was a virgin.
We didn’t have sex education in my day. Not knowing the real meaning, and thinking of the Virgin Mary, I said, “Of course not,” and wondered why she went away laughing.
When I got home I said to my mum, “I’m not a virgin, am I?” and gave her the shock of her life! After questioning me, she explained what it really meant, to my horror and amazement.

GinnyH Mon 25-May-20 16:06:36

“If you unscrew your tummy button your bottom will drop off!” ?
Also I was told that the big towers at fire stations were for hanging up the hoses to dry. Still not quite sure if that’s true ?.