As a child I use to think...

So many of the above - the dangers of apple pips, chewing gum, sitting on cold walls for example.

My mother also told me that I would wet the bed if I picked dandelions, I should never bring may blossom (hawthorn) in the house because it was unlucky and that bluebells screamed when you picked them. I guess she didn't like wild flowers much!

I still struggle to look at a new moon through glass (again unlucky) and when I see one I turn the money over in my pocket to double it. No that never works either!

Oh yes, I still turn the empty shell of a boiled egg over and crack it to let the fairies out. My DGC also do this and claim they can see them.

On the other hand I have never been scared of the bogey man or believed that there was anything under my bed.

Rose petal perfume...yes, did it every year! It must be ingrained in the female psyche as my dds did it as well.

We lived in Edinburgh when I was very young and the original trams still ran along Princes Street. There were several statues of notables in the Gardens, one of which was Dr Barnardo. My granny used to tell me he would come and get me and take me to a home for bad boys and girls if I didn't behave, (child psychology wasn't her strong point!!) I could be found under the tram seat when passing the statue in case it came and got me. No wonder we grew up with complexes!!

If we were left in the car for a few minutes in the High Street while our mother went shopping, and we saw a policeman coming, we would dive between the front and back seats. No idea why - even then I was asking myself this at the back of my mind. Perhaps we didn't want our Mum to get into trouble for leaving her children unattended while she popped in to pick up a newspaper.

Otherwise I am pretty sure I didn't have such a wondrous childhood - none of the above ring a bell, not even the rose petal thing. I just took everything as it was. I'd probably walked under several ladders before anyone told me it was unlucky to do so.

In another thread, I have said that my eldest son, even when quite small, was quite clear about what was real and what wasn't and would wonder how they did some of the special effects and "magic" on television. That was me when I was little. Doctor Who never scared me. Firstly, it was in black and white, and secondly, the scenery always looked so home made. I did wonder how they found people small enough to get inside the daleks to operate them.

Yes JackieB some children seem to grasp real and unreal from the start, while others don't see any difference. I wonder whether that continues into adult life, where some people are sceptical about hyped-up claims for products or ideologies, while others take it as the truth?

I thought that Elvis Presley was a girl as boys had boys names and 'Elvis' certainly wasn't a boys name. We had no TV and the radio was never tuned to music programmes. I only knew about 'him' as the bigger girls in the playground sang his songs. I was probably at secondary school before I knew the truth !

My mother also told me that I would wet the bed if I picked dandelions Grandma2213 dandelions are a diuretic and the French name for them is pis-en-lit, but I think you have to eat them or drink dandelion tea for it to work

And I do the same as you at a new moon

I always thought that swallowing chewing gum could strangle your heart

sorry, bad grammar in above post

Jalima I found out that about dandelions later and began to wonder if maybe my mother knew more than I thought. May blossom is regarded as one of the unluckiest flowers and there are many explanations which are inconclusive. As an adult I once picked a bluebell as an experiment and yes it does make a squeaking noise!

Was anyone else threatened with ashes in their stockings on Christmas morning? That one really worried me!

In Scotland dandelions are called pee the beds

Not heard of the ashes thing Grandma2213.

As a child, I believed the tall tales my father told me.

He told me that when he was cooking breakfast one morning, he cracked an egg, and a chicken flew out of the egg and right out of the window! For a long time afterwards I stood at his side when eggs were being cooked, waiting for it to happen again!

He also told us that he worked with a man who was so strong he could stand on a shovel and lift himself up.

I was a gullible child.

My Dad told me when he was in the navy, he chopped the top off his boiled egg and a baby crocodile jumped out, I believed him, I've never heard pee-the-beds for years! ha ha ,

That the sky would fall in (or something equally catastrophic) if I ate anything in the street.

The witch under my bed had very long arms and I had to jump as far as the chest of drawers to prevent her grabbing my ankles. However, I solved the problem many years later by having divan beds- she can't get under any of them. As for the skeleton which put its hand on my head every night I think DH's snoring frightened that one away.