I guess I was a pretty naive (or trusting) child who believed everything her parents told her. I strongly believed in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Leprachauns, and magic in general, but I’m not here to poo-poo the normal childlike wonder and fantasy that most creatively-minded children believe in whole-heartedly. I’m here to talk about the silly things that I believed that are more... unique!

For instance, I believed that everyone who worked a job grew up knowing exactly what they wanted to be and went to school for that exact thing. So every janitor, DMV employee or trash truck driver wanted to do that for a living and was educated in that field. 

👷‍♂️👩‍🏫👩‍🚒👨‍🍳👩‍🎓 

I also believed that parents had PTA-style meetings where they discussed how they were going to trick their children into believing in Santa etc. It’s just they all seemed on point with their tall tales and stories so when we kids compared notes, it seemed like everything they said seemed pretty darn accurate. I could smell the collusion!

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I thought the world was in black and white until the 1930’s and that The Wizard of Oz was the first movie to actually portray this time travel spectacle where we jumped into the wonderful world of color!

🌈🌈🌈 

I hadn’t really been to a funeral till I was 9 but before that I thought a “wake” was like a trial period where people visited an open casket in hopes that their dead relative would “wake up.”

🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🙏🏻 

I remember we passed by a church and at the cross walk there was a big yellow sign that I read out loud as “Presbyterian Crossing” and I asked my mom “But what if you aren’t Presbyterian - can you still cross there?” She laughed so hard as she explained to me the word was actually “Pedestrian.”  

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And speaking of my mom. She was always told that there was “a giraffe in the basement” and was absolutely terrified. It turned out they were saying “there is a draft in the basement.”

🦒🦒🦒 

So those are my silly things that I believed in as a child. I’m sure there are a ton more butt I just can’t remember them right now. And I’m sure you too have lots of great ones to add! Thanks for reading, and keep some of those beliefs alive. 

-Crystal Olguin

September 26, 2018