Old Wives Tales - let me hear your best one that is NOT true but you believed was

[momee]

I'm doing a "talk" on wisdom and thought this would be a fun intro :)

[Moxie]

Don't swim for an hour after eating. Summers at the lake were always so frustrating waiting for our food to digest. How funny!

[myfunnybunch]

I didn't believe this one, but when I was pregnant with my first, my ex's mother insisted we had to get rid of our cat because it would climb into the crib and suck the breath out of the baby. Cats just can't resist taking a baby's breath.

 

Sigh.....

 

Much to her relief, the cat thought the baby was noisy and smelly and unnecessary. He already felt the same way about the dog and avoided them both (and their breath) equally.

 

Cat

[unsinkable]

You can't get pregnant if you do it standing up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol:

 

I never believed it but it was something that WAS talked about! As in, "That's not true! Right?"

[clarkacademy]

if you put a knife under the bed while in labor it will cut the pain in half

[JuanitaL]

My MIL believed dogs would get worms if they ate chocolate.

[SproutMamaK]

That going outside with your hair wet will make you catch a cold. Can't count how many times my mother would mess up my hair trying to get it dry with a towel, or make use late by trying to get all our hair perfectly blowdried before stepping out on a cold day.

 

That's just not how viruses work, mom.

[Catwoman]

ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE.

 

Everyone knows that old wive's tales are true.

 

And Irish superstitions.

 

ALL TRUE.

 

 

 

 

:D :D :D :D :D

 

 

.

[Moxie]

We had to listen to this rule because according to my Mom if you eat and swim you are more likely to cough up/ vomit out food when you accidentally get a big gulp of water.

 

This rule was only for smaller kids (Age 7 and under I suppose) in a pool that would then have to be closed due to ick in the water.

No, that's silly. Digesting food in the water can cause leg cramps and you can drown. I know because my Mom told me.

[indigomama]

That going outside with your hair wet will make you catch a cold. Can't count how many times my mother would mess up my hair trying to get it dry with a towel, or make use late by trying to get all our hair perfectly blowdried before stepping out on a cold day.

 

That's just not how viruses work, mom.

 

 

I got chewed out all the time by elderly ladies about this when I lived in Eastern Europe for a year. They insisted I would catch a cold and die, and they would wait there scolding me until I headed back home. 

 

They also told me the reason I hadn't gotten pregnant was because I must have sat on the cold ground! I had a very dear friend who truly thought it was her fault she couldn't conceive, because she had sat on a cold train seat during university. It was really sad.

[Moxie]

I got chewed out all the time by elderly ladies about this when I lived in Eastern Europe for a year. They insisted I would catch a cold and die, and they would wait there scolding me until I headed back home.

 

They also told me the reason I hadn't gotten pregnant was because I must have sat on the cold ground! I had a very dear friend who truly thought it was her fault she couldn't conceive, because she had sat on a cold train seat during university. It was really sad.

This is OT, but I knew a very smart woman, with children, who believed that the umbilical cord went from the inside of the mother's belly button to the baby's belly button.

[Heatherwith4]

When I got pregnant with my oldest, a well-meaning lady came up to me at church. She told me to make sure I did not hang up or take down clothes from the clothesline until after I had the baby. Apparently, she thought that if I raised my arms over my head it would wrap the umbilical cord around the baby's neck and kill him.

 

We won't talk about the fact that I've never line-dried clothes in my life....

[Camelfeet]

My grandma told me not to eat seeds from watermelons or fruits because they would get stuck in my appendix and cause appendicitis.  I believed that one until I was... 17?  

 

[beaners]

I got chewed out all the time by elderly ladies about this when I lived in Eastern Europe for a year. They insisted I would catch a cold and die, and they would wait there scolding me until I headed back home. 

 

They also told me the reason I hadn't gotten pregnant was because I must have sat on the cold ground! I had a very dear friend who truly thought it was her fault she couldn't conceive, because she had sat on a cold train seat during university. It was really sad.

 

Yep, definitely got the side-eye for sitting on the ground in Eastern Europe. I think everyone expected my lady parts to fall out then and there when I stood up.

[Onceuponatime]

My grandma told me not to eat seeds from watermelons or fruits because they would get stuck in my appendix and cause appendicitis.  I believed that one until I was... 17?  

 

Gum too.

 

 

 

When My daughter got married 8 years ago, I believed that the reason rice was no longer thrown at weddings is because it will make birds stomachs explode if they eat it. So I bought some heart shaped pellets made out of ground rice that would disintegrate when stepped on or come in contact with water. After the wedding, I got a niggling question in my head, so I looked it up. Nope, birds do not explode from rice. Rice is a grain/seed, birds can eat it and do not swell up and explode.  The real problem with rice at weddings is it makes a mess that needs to be cleaned up and it acts like ball bearings causing people to slip and fall.

[Liz CA]

If you constantly make funny or weird faces, the muscles in your face will contract and stay that way. :lol: :lol: When I was 4 or 5, I spent a half hour in front of the mirror to see if my face got stuck in various grimaces.

[Moxie]

Gum too.

 

 

 

When My daughter got married 8 years ago, I believed that the reason rice was no longer thrown at weddings is because it will make birds stomachs explode if they eat it. So I bought some heart shaped pellets made out of ground rice that would disintegrate when stepped on or come in contact with water. After the wedding, I got a niggling question in my head, so I looked it up. Nope, birds do not explode from rice. Rice is a grain/seed, birds can eat it and do not swell up and explode. The real problem with rice at weddings is it makes a mess that needs to be cleaned up and it acts like ball bearings causing people to slip and fall.

Where do you people come from??? Everyone knows gum stays in your stomach for 7 years!!

[Radish4ever]

Chiggers burrow under your skin and have to be smothered to death to stop the itch.

[ChristyB in TN]

When I got pregnant with my oldest, a well-meaning lady came up to me at church. She told me to make sure I did not hang up or take down clothes from the clothesline until after I had the baby. Apparently, she thought that if I raised my arms over my head it would wrap the umbilical cord around the baby's neck and kill him.

 

We won't talk about the fact that I've never line-dried clothes in my life....

 I had a neighbor who would go into a crazy panic every time she saw me emptying the dishwasher because of this little bit of crazy.She had three children and had never had anyone but her and the kids living in their house. How on earth did she get anything done while she was pregnant!

[Lady Florida.]

Chiggers burrow under your skin and have to be smothered to death to stop the itch.

Also, you must kill them by putting clear nail polish on the bites (that's how you smother them).

[PrairieSong]

When I got pregnant with my oldest, a well-meaning lady came up to me at church. She told me to make sure I did not hang up or take down clothes from the clothesline until after I had the baby. Apparently, she thought that if I raised my arms over my head it would wrap the umbilical cord around the baby's neck and kill him.

 

We won't talk about the fact that I've never line-dried clothes in my life....

My neighbor lady told me this when I was pregnant with our oldest! She didn't think I should be wallpapering...and I guess, no reaching up for anything on a high shelf. She also told me that taking a baby outside in the wind (even on a very warm day) will make her colicky.

[mrsrevmeg]

When I got pregnant with my oldest, a well-meaning lady came up to me at church. She told me to make sure I did not hang up or take down clothes from the clothesline until after I had the baby. Apparently, she thought that if I raised my arms over my head it would wrap the umbilical cord around the baby's neck and kill him.

 

We won't talk about the fact that I've never line-dried clothes in my life....

 

My step-father's mother would chew me out every time I was pregnant over raising my arms. Uh, she was almost 6 feet tall, I am 5'2". Maybe she could get through a day without reaching up, but not me!

[Guest]

My grandmother was highly superstitious. She drove me half-insane with all her

Iittle bizarre fears. "Step on a crack, break your mother's back!" Great. Just what an OCD child needs. :/

 

 

Come to think if it, maybe that is where the OCD genes came from. ;)

[Lady Florida.]

That going outside with your hair wet will make you catch a cold.

 

My grandmother used to tell me that all the time. That and sitting on cold concrete (such as porch steps) would make you catch a cold. You couldn't convince her otherwise, and it didn't seem worth trying. It was best just not to let her see you sitting on the steps or leaving the house with wet hair.

[MeaganS]

That the blood with oxygen in it is red and when it is used up it is blue (like it looks in your wrist veins). The only reason you only see red blood is because it turns red as soon as it hits the air. I was in college before I figured out that one.

[blondeviolin]

My mother-in-law constantly tells me that licking your finger and sticking it in the wind will relieve nausea. :001_huh: The first time she said that, my husband sputtered, "wha?! How...? WHERE do you get stuff like this?!"

[ezrabean2005]

If you eat glue, you have to drink boiling hot water to prevent your mouth from getting stuck together permanently. This was the wisdom of my older brother.

[Mommyof4ks]

If you sit too close to the TV you will ruin your eyes. I was in my 20s before I took time to figure out that moms said that to get their kids to stay away from the TV lol.

[VeganCupcake]

Sitting on cold concrete will give you hemorrhoids. Didn't your mother teach you anything?

 

I thought it would give you a kidney infection. Maybe all of the above? 

 

[Excelsior! Academy]

Cutting hair will make it grow faster.  Shaving will help you grow a beard.

[Ewe Mama]

Eating carrots will give you curly hair.

 

 

I ate enough carrots to have an Afro and my hair is still straighter than a poker.

 

 

Edited to fix a typo.

[Ewe Mama]

Eating spicy food will put hair on your chest.

 

 

Fortunately I did not want a hairy chest. I do tend to stay away from spicy food because my taste buds are very boring.

[aggie96]

Well, I absolutely did not know that about chiggers! How did I not know that was a tale?!

 

I live in parts where chiggers are common. I learn something new everyday! :)

[songsparrow]

My grandmother believed that touching toads would give you warts.  She'd get very upset when the kids would pick up toads.

 

And this isn't exactly an old wives-tale, but my mother was terrified that I would break my neck if I did a somersault.  She frightened me so badly when I was a child that I was never able to comfortably do a somersault afterwards.  I later learned that my aunt (by marriage but the same age) also believed this.  She was concerned when my older daughter was doing somersaults when she was little.  Did anyone else have people who believed this?  Where did this idea come from?

[aggie96]

My Granny used to insist that coffee or beer would make your chest grow hair. And my uncle would open his shirt to prove it so we believed it for a while. :)

[skirch]

 

All the vitamins in bread are in the crust. And if you never put your tongue in the hole where you lost a tooth, a gold one would grow in. 

[Guest]

That the blood with oxygen in it is red and when it is used up it is blue (like it looks in your wrist veins). The only reason you only see red blood is because it turns red as soon as it hits the air. I was in college before I figured out that one.

I thought this was basically correct - that blood looks red when it touches the air, but it is blueish in your veins.

[Chelli]

That holding a kid upside down (like when you're playing with them) will make their liver turn over.

 

My grandmother would freak out when my dh would hold the kids upside down and swing them around.

[AndyJoy]

Gum too.

No, gum makes your "cheeks" stick together and constipates you! (So said my 12-year-old best friend's aunt. I tried so hard to keep her from being mocked by our fellow 6th graders but she refused to believe me and kept trying to enlighten everyone.)

[songsparrow]

I thought this was basically correct - that blood looks red when it touches the air, but it is blueish in your veins.

 

I was taught that in my high school biology class, but learned in last year's human anatomy class that I did with my kids that it's not true.  Oxygenated blood is bright red; un-oxygenated blood is not blue but a darker red.  Arteries appear blue due to the absorption and reflection of light through your bodily tissues.  There's a pretty good article here that discusses it in more detail.  

[applethyme]

My aunt told us that if we swallowed gum we would poop bubbles.  :lol:

[JFSinIL]

I didn't believe this one, but when I was pregnant with my first, my ex's mother insisted we had to get rid of our cat because it would climb into the crib and suck the breath out of the baby. Cats just can't resist taking a baby's breath.

 

Sigh.....

 

Much to her relief, the cat thought the baby was noisy and smelly and unnecessary. He already felt the same way about the dog and avoided them both (and their breath) equally.

 

Cat

 

My MIL said the same thing!

[Chelle in MO]

My Granny used to insist that coffee or beer would make your chest grow hair. And my uncle would open his shirt to prove it so we believed it for a while. :)

 

:smilielol5:

[Ipsey]

When I got pregnant with my oldest, a well-meaning lady came up to me at church. She told me to make sure I did not hang up or take down clothes from the clothesline until after I had the baby. Apparently, she thought that if I raised my arms over my head it would wrap the umbilical cord around the baby's neck and kill him.

 

We won't talk about the fact that I've never line-dried clothes in my life....

 

This was exactly what i was coming in here to say. I never believed it, but my grandmother does. And she claims it was why her first child was stillborn. :(

[KrissiK]

Don't swim for an hour after eating. Summers at the lake were always so frustrating waiting for our food to digest. How funny!

We were sure my mom and grandma made up that rule because they wanted to do the dishes first and rest before supervising our swim time.

[Cinder]

The cat and baby thing... someone just told me that like two weeks ago. I figured the reason to keep the cat away was so it didn't sit on the baby's face or something which makes more sense and would be wise.

 

I actually never heard the cat and baby thing but we had to keep our cat away from our baby because she, as the alpha cat, was intent on putting that new critter in its place.

[Cinder]

if you put a knife under the bed while in labor it will cut the pain in half

 

Wondering if you actually tried this. :bigear:

 

:D

 

Where do you people come from??? Everyone knows gum stays in your stomach for 7 years!!

 

As a kid I remember thinking I'd have this great big wad of gum in my stomach that would be there for years and years. Yeah, I know. :001_rolleyes:

[Jenny in Florida]

My grandmother used to warn me all the time about going out "in the night air," like someone pumped out all the good daytime air and replaced it with dangerous, unhealthy air at night. She also promoted the "catching a chill will lead to pneumonia" philosophy of illness. 

[readinmom]

If you eat strawberries while pregnant your baby will be born with strawberry birthmarks.  (mil)

 

Hey, don't laugh about the seed sprouting thing.  My sil got a seed stuck in her nose when she was small.  No one could figure out why she smelled so bad so they took her to the doctor.  The bean had sprouted.  Always a dinner time favorite at Thanksgiving/Christmas get togethers.  

[SKL]

I remember believing that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  I recall walking through the neighborhood trying to find the end of the rainbow.

 

My mom used to say, don't stand there with your mouth open or you'll catch flies.  (The real reason being that my mom thought kids who stood there gaping looked ignorant and neglected.)

 

I remember believing the thing about stepping on a crack and breaking my mother's back.

 

My mom used to joke with us this way when we were little.  She'd pretend to notice something on our skin or down our clothes, and say, "Eek!  You have garments and ancestors!"  I was sure those were two horrible kinds of bugs.  Freaked me out every time.