I finally stopped holding my breath near cemeteries on a trip to Cape Cod when I was a teenager. We were stopped in traffic for a half an hour somewhere in New England, and cemetery on either side of the road. I think I'd gotten over the belief years before that the ghosts would enter my mouth if I breathed, but holding my breath had become a force of habit. I still blame my cousins.
Most of us had diehard beliefs when we were kids that we've fortunately learned to accept just aren't so. Remember your dog who got taken to the farm where he could run after chickens all day long? What about the baseball card collection your mom donated to the children's wing of the hospital for the really sick little boys who have nothing to do all day but lie in bed and shuffle through them?
I Used to Believe is a site devoted entirely to the beliefs we just couldn't shake when we were kids. There are your basic "out of the mouths of babes" quotes on there (yaaaawn), but there are quite a few that make you wonder, "Guerilla warfare isn't a bunch of gorillas attacking guys with guns?" So check it out - see if you recognize yourself . . . or your kids.
Image: I Used to Believe
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