10 Little white lies parents tell their children
As a child, parents have so much influence. They influence what you eat, how you dress and most importantly what you believe in.
POLOKWANE – I’m pretty sure we all have those white lies that we were told by our parents that we will never forget. Here are some of the most common lies or rather non-truths that we were told growing up.
1. Wait 30 minutes after eating before you swim.
In defense of parents, this at the time was thought to be correct and not necessarily a white lie that they told and the rationale behind it was that after a big meal, blood will be diverted away from your arms and legs, towards your stomach’s digestive tract. Without enough blood flow for your limbs, you are at risk of drowning.
2. If you pull a face you’ll get stuck like that.
This lie was most likely created by parents to prevent their children from constantly making rude ugly faces
3. If you swallow gum it’ll stay in your stomach for seven years
In reality our digestive system passes through anything we put in our mouths over a matter of hours. But the risk of swallowing gum was the reality of constipation and blocked intestines (if swallowed in large amounts).
4. If you sneeze with your eye open they’ll fall out.
This might have come about because of the force that comes with a sneeze. But in truth, there are muscles attached to the eye, which allow us to move our eyes up and down and from side to side, and these are also more than capable of keeping things where they should be when you sneeze.
5. Crossing your eyes will make you go cross eyed permanently
This one goes to back to number 4. Your eyes are attached to muscles that are fully capable of keeping them in place.
6. Eating carrots will help you see at night
The myth itself stems from World War II, when successful British fighter pilots attributed their success in night time dog fights to eating carrots. This was actually to hide from the Germans the fact that the British had devised a fully-functioning radar system. Though, the prospect of night vision has encouraged kids everywhere to eat more carrots.
7. Santa Clause, Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy exist.
I think this two might be the most common lies parents tell. And the effort that they put into making it seem as though they really do exist did not help. But props to parents because these white lies made many people’s childhoods imaginatively special.
8. Chocolate milk comes from brown cows
It’s easy to see why this lie would make sense to a child. The association of the brown colour to the brown in milk just simply makes sense.
9. If you swallow seeds they’ll grow in your stomach.
With all the digestive processes that take place in the stomach when something is ingested, it would take a super seed to grow.
10. Santa Claus knows if you’ve been naughty or nice.
This was smart thinking from parents because it was an effective tool to reign in their children (well, sometimes). Because no child wants to be passed over by Santa Claus during the gift season for being naughty, this continues to work for parents.
