I Used To Believe

I Used To Believe collects childhood beliefs that we all used to believe. You know when your brother, sister, parents, friends, etc used to spin a little lie about something ridiculous and then you actually believed it.

My Dad used to tell me that the '9 O'clock Horses' would take me away if I didn't get to sleep by 9pm. Someone called Max (listed on the site) also had the same problem.

So lying and deceit is an essential method of bringing up a child? Good. I almost can't wait to get started. I'm going to invent a new language that my offspring will speak to the world - I'll say that English is just a little language that we only use amongst ourselves. It reinforces that old, stoned idea of bringing up a kid in a shed and only feeding it body building drugs, bananas, milk and raw steak just to see what happens. Then, on its 18th Birthday, releasing it in Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve.

Check out some of the misinformation that kids will actually believe. Be warned though - you may run into some that you STILL believe. This site has taught me that ponies are NOT young horses! You live and learn don't you.

Do a search for your country of origin and see what people used to believe. Someone thought that people in England didn't do drugs because The Queen wouldn't approve! Here are a couple more gems...

'Being from england when i was young i used to think that the british and usa boycott of the 1980 moscow olympics was due to the cricketer Geoff Boycott. it was the only boycott i knew at the time!'
wicket

'In England, 'Lyons Syrup' comes in tins with a picture of a lion lying in the sun. My father told me that this was how they made syrup, by leaving lions out in the sun to melt. I believed it for a long time, and even thought I could taste the lion.'
Chris Smith

'i believed that england was a medieval country without cars and telephones. the reason was that i watched the silver jubilee of queen elizabeth II. on the telly in 1977 and there were only horses and old uniforms. the announcer was also referring to queen elizabeth I. who had lived in the middle ages. logically, number one is mother of number two - how exactly elizabeth II. could ever manage to live from 14hundredsomething til this day i couldn't sort out but it was amazing to know that there was a medieval country still in existance.'
german geographer

'In the early sixties, as a 3 year-old I was taken to England for a 2-week visit. I have no memory of the trip. I did however grow up with the knowledge that the English were tiny people that lived in flower pots. When I grew old enough to question the idea, I couldn't understand where such a deep seated impression was from. As an adult, I finally mentioned it to my mother and she laughed saying that while we were in England I used to watch a tv show called the "Flower Pot Men". Mystery solved, although I did visit again as an adult just to be sure.'
Frances

'With a child's understanding of time... I used to think my dad was a convict settler. I'd heard about the first white Australians who'd come to the country as prisoners from England (some 200 years ago). I knew my dad came from England too when he was younger, so it just seemed logical that he was one of them.'
Jude

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