Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
10Kviews
Hey Pandas, What Is One Thing You Believed As A Kid That Turned Out To Be Completely And Totally False? (Closed)
We all thought some pretty dumb stuff as kids. Share your best!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
That quicksand, lava, and the Bermuda Triangle were going to be MUCH larger problems in real life.
Final score:
76points
#2
I thought people 'grew up' and bullying would be a thing of the past because adults are respectable, kind, and thoughtful. Boy was I fooled!
Final score:
75points
#3
i once belived usa was smart now i dont
Final score:
63points
#4
I was born in Hawaii, and I would always travel to North Carolina.But i was a wee little lad and i fell asleep before we got to the airport. By the time i woke up, we were in north Carolina. Therefore i thought that on the other side of the mountain range that separates the island, was North Carolina. FLAWLESS LOGIC.
Final score:
53points
#5
I believed that I could turn myself straight and have a normal life. I tried. I couldn't.
Oh also that little mice people pulled open "automatic" doors when people got near, and I would always say hi and thank you to the little mice people when I walked through an automatic door
Final score:
51points
#6
My Mother was one of the great "liars" of all time and her son was gullible enough to believe everything she said. What she said was never malicious, just amusing.
My Mother said that Bellsnickle came on New Year's and for those children who misbehaved between Christmas and New Year's, he would take back all of the toys Santa brought. Bellsnickle, who has various examples in European history, is a man who is covered with chains (think Jacob Marley) and who cannot see below the level of his nose. So, if you hid your Christmas loot under say a table or your bed, he could not see it to take it.
This served two wonderful things for my Mother and Father. First, it assured 7 additional days of good behavior after Christmas; and Second, it was very amusing for my parents to watch me dutifully hiding my toys under beds and tables (ya know, just to be sure if my behavior didn't meet standards) on New Year's Eve.
Mom died in 1998 and I will miss her for the rest of my life.
Final score:
46points
#7
I was the youngest child (and the only girl) and would be left out of certain activities because I was too young. My parents would tell me, "when you are their age, you can do (whatever - it was usually something like go to the river or ride bikes on the road, or drive the tractor - stuff a four or five year old would not be allowed to do)." Thus, I believed wholeheartedly that I would catch up with my brothers' age, like I would get older and they wouldn't until we all got to be about 9 and then we would age together.
Final score:
33points
#8
You could see the Earth change spin speed by how fast the clouds went by.
Final score:
32points
Telmo Belo 3 years ago
My 4th grade teacher told me this and I, at the age of 8, told her she was wrong to her face. She still didn't believe me.
#9
Two things. God. And that Republicans cared about the average person and wanted them to succeed.
Final score:
29points
~*Zodiac lover~* 3 years ago
Not to be rude but I don’t believe in anything because of how messed up are world is 0-0 I don’t even believe in myself lol-
#10
Life is fair, it isn't. It's swings and roundabouts. Bad stuff is going to happen to you, but also good stuff. Roll with the punches.
Final score:
28points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Too true,but as long as the good stuff out-weighs the bad,you´ll be ok.
#11
I believed in magic. Sorry guys, magic doesn't exist.
Final score:
27points
#12
I thought that royals don't poop/pee. I still don't know the real answer though :D
Final score:
26points
Donkey boi 3 years ago
I can confirm that descendants of the Irish Royal families definitely do poop and pee. I don't know if this only occurred once they started to de-throne the royal families, so I'm unable to confirm of existing Royalty!
#13
That my parents would support my coming out of the closet, it took a lot of time to convince myself they would be okay that I was bi. They weren't, so I packed my things shortly after. One of the worst times in my life.
Final score:
25points
#14
My older brothers told me that the tall smoke towers attached to our local hospital were where the bodies were dropped down for cremation. Didn't realize they were pulling my leg until my grandfather passed and I freaked out because he didn't like heights and now he'd be dropped in that very tall tower. My parents explained....brothers are a**holes.
Final score:
24points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Older brothers can be a royal pain in the Butt....but they are also there to protect your back.
#15
i thought bill nye was a russian spy. lol
Final score:
22points
Khalil Verdejo 3 years ago
I think he means those stupid rhymes people make.
Load More Replies...
#16
That all cats were girls and all dogs were boys. I don't know why I believed that, my parents raised German Shepherds for g*ds sake.
Final score:
21points
#18
I thought I could take part in well every profession in the world😖
Final score:
18points
#19
I totally thought that when the US bought Alaska, Russia cut it off from their land and sent it across the ocean where the United States glued it onto the side of Canada (and that it wasn't glued onto the US because we were too poor to pay for such long distance shipping).
Final score:
18points
#20
That when you left your tooth in a glass of water, it would magically transform into a magnificent dress - a’la Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind. Believed it so hard I had dreams about the different dresses.
Final score:
17points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Don´t know about the tooth...but Scarlett O`Hara`s green dress with the tassels made out of a pair old curtains was truly magnificent.
#21
My grandpa used to tell me if you got out of bed to use the bathroom at night and when you flushed the toilet it woke up the Toilet Monster who may or may not kill you as you tried to run back to bed. When I got older I realized this wasn't true. What is true is if you get up at night to use the toilet at night it means you can't drink 5 cups of coffee after dinner
Final score:
17points
#22
I still stubbornly believe in dragons.
Final score:
17points
#23
No one is rude in this world it’s happy jolly :D oh wait then comes racism sexist people homophobic people also I’m mixed and Hispanic how lovely right? Oh and wait it gets better! I’m a tomboy and people have asked me why am I not wearing a dress before:> I’m also a person who plays video games WHAT A LOVELY WORLD we live in right? :3
Final score:
16points
#24
My mom is a nurse and she used to take me to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, I would take my headphones and my mini DVD player and watch Bambi or Dumbo or something like that. I thought she was doing research on alcoholics because she would have a notepad and take notes. They had the best cookies at these meetings, lmao. I came to find out this year, I am 17 that my mother used to be an alcoholic. I started putting pieces together, all her friends had a medallion coin thingy in their car which was the AA symbol. I found AA books in the house. It was a complete shock for me, all my mom's friends and her past boyfriend were people she had met in AA
Final score:
15points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
You can be SO proud of your Mom...Alcoholism is an illness hard to fight.Your Mom did everything in her power to beat it and I am sure you had a big part in her wanting to get better.That she did not let you know how she felt was certainly done to protect you,not out of shame.
#25
When I was like 5, I always thought that when you played a record, all the "lines" (grooves) would go under the label and when they were all gone you'd have to buy a new record. So I'd spin the turntable backwards and watch all of the "lines" come back thus extending the life of the record and not having to buy a new one. Kid anti-corporate conspiracy genius at work, eh? LOL (I have now, at 62, recorded and produced several albums myself!) Of course there is only one spiral "groove" to a record and it was just the run-out but I did discover in my teens that the fastest way to have to buy a new copy was to let your younger sister borrow it.
Final score:
15points
#26
I used to believe that my stuffed animals would protect me from nightmares and that if you’re under a blanket you’re safe from anything..
Final score:
14points
#27
That I was mentally okay :D
Final score:
13points
#28
I am a child of the 80s and I loved the Care Bears and My Little Pony cartoons. When I was 6 my mother brother and I went on what was my first trip on a plane. I was told by my teacher that one of nicest things about flying was being above the clouds. Knowing that the Care Bears and the My Little ponies lived in the sky in the cartoons I went home and asked my brother who had been in a plane before, if that were true. He said yes it was and when we go up in the plane I would see them playing with each other. I was so disappointed when we did get above the clouds and they were of course not there. My brother though, thought it was hilarious.
Final score:
13points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Yah,brothers !! I hope by now you have forgiven him....brothers can be useful too..
#29
For some context, my mom moved around a lot in the states as a kid, ultimately finishing school in Michigan before coming to North Carolina, met my dad and had me. For the longest time I knew my mom just came from the North, had a different accent and cooked her green beans weird. I always believed she was from Michigan- born and raised.
Que to a stormy night and my family plays the Oregon Trail for the first time. Person born closest to Oregon goes first. My family was born in North Carolina, and I said mom goes first she was born in Michigan.
"...No I wasn't. I was born in Missouri."
I'm still not over it.
Final score:
12points
Wilhelm Chile 3 years ago
Somewhat the same thing for me. My dad was born in Michigan but moved to Georgia when he was young, so I didn't figure out where he was actually born until I was in the 5th grade.
#30
When I was like 4 I thought that the rain bow was red yellow orange green purple pink
Final score:
12points
#31
I used to believe that everything was ok. That everyone was treated equal. That all people are good. That I am mentally stable.
Final score:
12points
Nicolas Pilot 3 years ago
It's okay to be not okay, therefore, you are okay just as you are. Don't be mislead by those whom have been mislead
#32
Believed that everybody was respected. LOL nope.
Final score:
11points
#33
I believed myself to be adopted, alien kidnapped or left in my "parent's" basket at the grocery store. Regrettably, all those scenarios were wrong. I actually shared the same DNA with some righteously crazy folks.
Final score:
11points
#35
I used to think that if you're losing your hair, that means you have cancer........ i had a friend that had cancer and lost all of his hair, but i was in second-third grade at the time, so i didn't know about chemotherapy yet
Final score:
10points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
At your age and seing your friend must have been frightening,hope your friend beat his illness.
#36
Since adults always sat across from me, I always thought that when you were an adult your right and left hands automatically switched. In my culture we wear a bangle on our right hands, so it was easy for me to distinguish the right hand. I was shocked when I found out it stayed the same lol
Final score:
10points
#37
I was completely convinced that the eggs I broke open to make an omelette would have cracked open with chicks had I given them a chance to grow.
Final score:
10points
#38
2 words. Tooth. Fairy.
Final score:
9points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Not really a believer either,but the coins rolled in so why spoil my parents fun...right?
#39
I used to think that at night, when the lights are off, all the demons and monsters would come out of the mirror and wander. If they knew you saw them, they would take over your body or something. I had my eyes closed every night, even if I couldn't sleep. I still have spectrophobia.
Final score:
9points
Lorelai Purvis 3 years ago
yeah i don't like the idea of demons in my house and even though i know they aren't there and there aren't spirits either i still think they're there and so i'll stare at my glow stickers until i fall asleep
#40
That the Bermuda Triangle was a big deal
Final score:
9points
#41
At the age of 9 I was sent to a Sanatorium for 6 months....It will be fun,my mother said,you will get to eat all the smoked Salmon you`ll want......reality?! margerine on stale bread and pudding so dry your spoon would bend trying to get to the softer centre...The saving grace...my grandparents would visit and take me out for tea and cake..
Final score:
8points
#42
I think as soon as you fall asleep it’s morning (btw I’m a kid)
Final score:
8points
IttyBittyPrettyKitty 3 years ago
I'm a kid too. I'm kind of sad it feels like that because I want to enjoy my sleep.
#43
Ah see I thought that I was the only one that took shits. All you people don’t take shits. Until I read Everybody Poops
Final score:
7points
#44
I believed that airplanes could drop a large crane and would pick up the house. so whenever i was outside and heard an airplane overhead i would run and hold on to the house so the plane wouldn't take it.
Final score:
7points
#45
That woman pee out of their vaginas
Final score:
7points
#46
When I was a kid I used to see the erectile dysfunction commercials on TV and always had thought "Male Enhancement" was something that gave men extra powers to be stronger, faster or smarter
Final score:
7points
Connie Bonneville 3 years ago
Tampon commercials promote the same... you can swim, go horseback riding etc... tampons & ED meds turn you into a frickin Terminator according to commercials because we won't call things what they are. So stupid.
#47
That I actually had a permanent record.
Final score:
6points
#48
Those hammer looking things in fields, called oil derricks I think. They go up and down, sometimes in a circle even. We’d drive past them on vacation trips. When I was little, I was told that they made peanut butter. Made sense to me! I learned the truth in high school.
Final score:
6points
#49
I thought sitting in front of a TV could damage my eyes
Final score:
5points
#50
That the moon landings, the last of which was 4 years before my birth were ancient history.
My family stayed at a very old fashioned hotel with a lift so old that it had a list of historical events since the lift was installed on a plaque. I assumed that because the moon landings were being used to show that the lift was old that they must have happened ages ago...
Final score:
5points
#51
that watching the in the dark is bad for your eyes and being too close to the screen is too. i guess my mom just really doesn’t like tv...
Final score:
5points
#52
Thinking I was the only one who saw life through a first-person perspective. Honestly, that one still mesmerizes me now... I sometimes imagine what it'd be like to meet me from another person's perspective.
Final score:
5points
LilyAnna Guthner 3 years ago
Same here! I often do it with family members and then think, 'I wonder how they put up with me'
#53
That if you ate a seed from a fruit, a tree would grow inside you! I was genuinely terrified of this happening.
Final score:
5points
A C 3 years ago
Haha I got into a time with my friends over this. I tried to explain things like stomach acid, lack of sunlight and soil..lol they wouldn't budge from this belief...so I ate some seeds as an "experiment".... they watched me closely for a couple weeks and then conceded. Haha it's a funny memory for me.
#54
easy...that I was going to hell for being gay.
Final score:
5points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Whoever told you this was/is an idiot....live your life being happy for what you are...
#55
Salt Water Taffy had caffeine in it lmao
Final score:
4points
#56
When I was little I always thought the movie or show was playing in real time and I would get so confused sometimes when we would flip through channels and I would see another actor from another movie that was on. My little kid brain couldn’t comprehend how an actor could be in two movies at once. I was about maybe five or six when I learned that what I believed wasn’t true and everything was filmed prior.
Final score:
4points
#57
1.I was totally sure that after Tonsillectomy you can eat a lot of ice cream like it is shown in plenty of cartoons and series. I realised the truth after the surgery at my 18yo.
2. My MIL convinced my husband that candy should be asked from the squirrel named Bubka that lived for some reason on the closet.
Final score:
4points
#58
for me it was mostly typicall things your parents tell you like mine told me that my tongue turns blue when I lie, or my ears are red when I lie...Come to think of it lots of things were assoiciated with lying
Final score:
4points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
It is not the tongue or ears that change colour.....it is the nose that grows longer...remember Pinocchio?
#59
My Dad had a computer that he got through his work, but refused to hook it up. I asked why and he said "Because I don't want hackers breaking into it and stealing my personal information." Now keep in mind that he A) did not have any internet going to the house and B) had not opened it and, therefore, had not put any personal financial information on it. He thought as soon as he plugged it in, hackers could see anything in his house.
Final score:
4points
#60
I thought sex meant the man puts his penis on the woman’s vagina, sort of underneath the lips. I had no idea it went inside until I was well into my teens. This is what happens when you were born decades before free online porn.
Final score:
4points
#61
wait 20 minutes after eating to get in the pool 😂
Final score:
4points
#62
Mostly stuff my mum and gran told us kids:
Sea foam is made because God was washing his clothes.
If you lie, hair will grow on the palm of your hands.
Clouds are made from factories that have chimneys.
If you go outside at 12 am or pm with your hair open (girls), the devil will catch you.
My gran was a firm believer in Old Wive's tales.
Final score:
4points
#63
religion.
Final score:
4points
Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago (edited)
so you're telling me that god was unhappy with us, so he sent himself to us, so we could murder him, and only then could he forgive us? Of course only if we believe this story...
#64
I believed that if i treat others the way i wanted to be treated, they will treat me well...ladies and gentlemen...that was all a lie.
Final score:
4points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Not at all,it works....don´t give up and you´ll see the truth of it...
#65
That a monster lived under my bed and was going to grab my ankles and drag me under if I didn't get a running jump onto my bed (thanks a lot Tales From the Darkside).
Final score:
4points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
A wolf would be there...collective memory from Grimm´s tales and folk-lore
#66
I had a very firm belief that one day, say when I was 18 or 21 or 25... that I would BE an adult...........those birthday's came and when and I didn't suddenly BECOME this imagined adult. It was very disquieting because I believed this wholeheartedly!!! Now I know for sure adulthood is a myth. Oh well🥴
Final score:
4points
#67
I always thought that the disney charcters were real. They are not real lol.
Final score:
3points
#68
When I was about 3 or 4 I saw my hospital nursery picture and noticed that newborn me had almost no hair. Since only boys had very short hair back then, I thought I'd been born a boy and then turned into a girl as my hair grew.
Final score:
3points
Lorelai Purvis 3 years ago
lol i was one of those weird newborns that had a full head of hair from birth
#70
That there was some kind of "parent school" that adults went to before they could become a Mom & Dad so they would always knew what they were doing and have all the answers to any problem.
Final score:
3points
#71
I used to think males could give birth.
Final score:
3points
#72
People who died/killed in film's, died in real life. Not just the character
Final score:
3points
#73
I thought Arizona gave you cancer. My dad came back from a golfing weekend there and went right to the hospital not feeling well. Had part of one lung removed. Small cell carcinoma. He died 8 months later. I was 7.
Final score:
3points
#74
I was a child in the 50s. Because of cartoons, I believed islands floated around freely, unattached. And that turtles could crawl out of their shells like taking off a coat. Stupid cartoons.
Final score:
3points
Hinchess (Submission author) 3 years ago
So sorry about duplicate posts. I don't see how to delete.
#75
Monsters lived under the bed so once you shut the light off, you could not let a foot dangle! It’s still terrifying even though I’m grown.
My stuffed animals could talk to each other when I left the room. Not a theory, I was certain of this. I would coach them before I left to enjoy themselves.
That dead relatives watched you. I was terrified to be naked alone because I thought dead people were floating and looking down at me.
What’s crazy is when you’re young, this feels legit! It’s not even conspiracy theories, it’s your truth. It’s the actual world you live in. No wonder we grow up scarred inside lol
Final score:
3points
#76
My parents had many right-wing conservative religious discussions and debates....one thing that would be talked about regularly for some reason was euthanasia.... they never told me what it was and I heard Y
"Youth in Asia" and thankfully it didn't turn into some weird prejudice.....however.... I did spend quite a but of time trying to figure out why my parents would be so riled up about the youth in Asia...couldn't figure out what they'd done!
Final score:
3points
A C (Submission author) 3 years ago
Yikes! How do you edit once you accidentally publish and have crazy typos!?!?
#77
if I eat a watermelon seed it'll grow in my stomach. age old myth
Final score:
2points
#78
I was a child in the 50s. Because of cartoons, I believed islands floated freely in the water, unattached. And turtles could just crawl out of their shells, like taking off a coat. Stupid cartoons.
Final score:
2points
#79
When I was younger, 6ish, I thought the WORLD went to bed at 8:00pm and EVERYTHING was closed.
Final score:
2points
#80
When my dad didn’t want me to get in bed with my mom and him he would say I take my head off when I go to bed. He said he you can take your head off too when you get older. So I would go to my room and think of how my head would look on my nightstand . When I asked him as an adult about this he said it kept your mind off the monsters under your bed. I still would creep in their room while they were sleeping and if I didn’t see my dads head on his side table I would wake him up. He said he forgot to take off his head. Strange people lol
Final score:
2points
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
Some of my earliest memories are my brothers and I crowding into our parent´s bed Sunday morning...you felt warm,protected and special...
#81
I thought that there was a time dome somewhere that kept all the time. When the power would go out (before the internet and smartphones!!!) you'd have to call this phone number to get the correct time to reset all your clocks. It would say beep and then say "at the tone the time will be...." and then another beep and on and on it would go. Well I very much heard as a child "at the dome" so I just thought there was some giant time dome somewhere and that's what we called. Haha it took maaaaaany years to figure out it said tone and not dome. 🤣🤣🤣
Final score:
2points
#82
That being honest, reliable, educated, trustworthy, and a hard worker will get you what you want out of life.
LMAOROFL!!!! Was THAT ever the biggest freeking LIE!!!! Geez!!
Final score:
2points
#83
When we die, our skeletons would be reused for scientists of the future... bottom line; we don’t get that privilege.
Final score:
2points
#85
Final score:
1point
#88
I used to believe that co-educated bathroom means that the tiles are nice. Don’t ask me why I believed that. I was 22 when a friend of mine enlightened me. “How are the toilets in this pub?””Well co-educated” “you mean there are men and wemen in the same bathroom???” “No, I mean the tiles are nice...” An emberrassing conversatuon followed...And come to think of it I actually learned latin in school...
Final score:
1point
#89
That we grew feathers when we turned 7. My mom told my brother that to fool him and he actually believed it! So when he was asleep she burst open a pillow and spread the pillows on him and told him that he had grown and shed the feathers overnight. I'm 3 years younger than him and she tried it on me. I believed it for a while until it was all cleared up lol.
Final score:
1point
#90
My mum told me if I brushed my teeth with warm water they would melt!!???
Final score:
1point
Jette Wang Wahnon 3 years ago
I can´t believe she did that !! well,yes I can,the hot water takes longer to get through the pipes and so spend more water and energy...
#91
My mom fooled me that a cement factory was peanut butter and jam factory. I didn't figure it out until we went there on a school field trip, and boy did I look stupid.
Final score:
1point
#92
After learning about atoms in the 2nd grade, my best friend and I thought the dots moving around in our vision when we looked up at a blue sky were atoms of the air. We'd often exclaim to each other that we could see atoms! But really they're just white blood cells moving through the eye, which I suspected later in life, but just thought to look up after reading this feature!
Final score:
1point
#93
Because of cartoons, I believed islands floated around freely in the ocean, unattached to anything else. And that turtles could just take off their shells, like a coat. Stupid cartoons,
Final score:
1point
#94
That is you left toys out during a snowstorm that they melted with the snow
Final score:
1point
#95
If you kiss a boy on the lips then you would get pregnant...... Yes I really did believe this
Final score:
1point
#96
that fish breath by splitting water molecules to get the oxygen.
Final score:
1point
#97
When I learned about the Gold Rush in California while living in California I dug up my backyard trying to get rich.
Final score:
1point
#98
I always thought that when you flushed an airplane toilet the waste just dropped out the back of the plane and landed wherever. I never liked using the airplane bathroom because I pitied whoever we were flying over lol
Final score:
1point
#101
I thought once you blew out your birthday candles at age 100, you died.I would see road-kill, and I would sigh and say, "Must've been 100".
Final score:
1point
#102
ok tthat last one I posted was an accident
Final score:
0points
#103
I always thought when I was little that boys took cold showers and girls took hot showers. When my brother was about to get in the shower, i noticed the k**b was on hot and that’s how I found out different😂
Final score:
0points
#105
That every kid can just think up what they want to do and have no changes or anything
Final score:
0points
#106
That if you stand too close to the TV it would damage your eyes BUT It's not true like ✨WHAT I WAS YELLED A SO MANY TIMESSSSS!!!!!!! ✨
Final score:
0points
#107
I thought I would have a super expensive car and a mansion by college- I’m not in college yet but I already know that was far from true XD
Final score:
0points
#108
rudulph the red nose (pain-deer) i belived he was wit santa until like last year cuz i googled if rudulph fake and it said he was fake cuz sum randum peapl made him so santa dont got a red nose (pain-deer cuz its pain)
Final score:
-2points
#109
That boredpanda had original content.
Final score:
-4points
What do you think ?
Related on Bored Panda
