The weird and wonderful things our parents told us

If 'someone' was picking their nose: "Watch out, you'll poke your eyeballs out!"

Raw potatoes and orange pith gave us worms, and egg yolks meant warts.

Our dinner had to "fall off the shelf", so we weren't allowed to move around too much straight after dinner.

Never cast a clout till May is out. I believe that later referred to May blossom and not what my Irish mother regarded as the month.
Potatoes would certainly grow out of your ears.

Keep your vest tucked well into your knickers, or you'll get a cold in your kidneys.

Oh yes the dreaded 'chill on your kidneys'!

If you dont brush your hair, a bird will nest in it.

Don't come running to me if you fall off that wall and break your leg ( usually said when we were climbing and playing somewhere we shouldn't be)

Never swallow chewing gum because it will wrap around your innards.

Pips would grow into a tree inside you.

Too much reading will damage your eyes. That warning moved on to watching too much TV and now to using iPads etc. My eyesight is still fine.
No washing your hair during a period. I wondered at the time if it was because we washed our hair lying in the bath instead of having a shower. Mum stopped saying it when we got one of those sprays that attached to the taps.
No flowers in the bedroom and NEVER mix red and white flowers in a display.
Eat you crusts to get curly hair. That never worked for me but I didn’t realise at the time that Mum had a perm!

A whole clove held in the tooth for toothache.

Avalon, that one works! The oil in cloves is an effective analgesic for mild toothache while you wait for your dentist appointment. Always the first choice of remedy here.

If you have sex before marriage you'll have nothing to look forward to on your wedding night

Remember a teacher telling us 7yr olds that if we didn't eat our greens we would die in our twenties. I survived.

Slightly off piste but I do remember being asked if I wanted a smack - ooh yes please.

tanith

Ooh just remembered I wasn’t supposed to wash my hair when on my period. God knows what would happen ?

I was told that one too. Apparently the blood would go to my head. Even at 14 I worked out that it couldn't possibly happen. My mother was an otherwise highly intelligent woman so goodness knows why she said it!

senryu

If you have sex before marriage you'll have nothing to look forward to on your wedding night

Pretty sure back in the day we were not supposed to look forward to that activity.....

My mother also wouldn’t mix red and white flowers, “blood and bandages”.

Dandelions are called pissenlits in French.

There was a lot for pregnant women and young babies.

Nobody pregnant should stretch their arms above their head as it will tie the cord round the babies neck.

Do not lift you newborn baby to look in a mirror as you will see the Devil over your shoulder

Only bite your small babies nails, do not use scissors.

A pregnancy bump carried well forward meant a boy and one at the back meant a girl (or the other way round).

Sure there were many others.

Of you drop a knife on the floor a strange man will knock on the door ?

My Mum used to recite "Tell tell tit your tongue will split, all the little Dickie birds will have a little bit". Supposed to stop us telling fibs!

I’d forgotten the not washing your hair when you had your period. I remember someone being appalled that I still stayed clean at ‘that time’

One thing that often seemed to come up in books/articles about growing up was the advice about what to do if your knickers fell down while you were out (kick them off and walk away). It used to really worry me. But I’m 60 now and can honestly say my knickers have never fallen down! ?

Many of the above were said to me as a child. In particular my mum would have had a fit about anyone going to bed with even slightly damp hair. I was also told that the men who drove the ice cream vans round peed in the ice cream and whipped it up. Nasty, eh? I think it was so I'd be put off asking for an ice cream every time the van came round (about three times a day in summer as I recall). That didn't really work though!

I find that I still crush eggshells to stop the rats going out to sea in them and entering the boats - I am nearly 70 for goodness sake?

tanith

Ooh just remembered I wasn’t supposed to wash my hair when on my period. God knows what would happen ?

OOOh. I know this one but didn't quite know how to say it. I got told this all the time by my mother. It would make you "go insane".

My grandma used to give us a mix of raw egg yolk, sugar and port to build us up when we were poorly. yum, very moorish.

My dad, who was a serious joker, used to take us 6 children for a drive in the country.. when he came across herds of cows, he told us to open the windows and breathe in the air because it was good and healthy.. the smell of cow dung was awful but we all grew up thinking it was good for us..

My Grandad told me that if I ate pickled onions, I’d be able to swim! Can’t stand the things...

After eating you had to wait at least 2 hours before going swimming or you would get cramp and drown.