[September 4, 2025] One lesson I got from my childhood was that most lies I was told were told to me by other children, usually, unintentionally. Typically, these lies were funny snippets of misinformation. We did try our best to give out what we all thought was either a cautionary or advisory “fact.” The reason for many of these glaring lies to kids is to bring some happiness and adventure to our lives.
A few of these lies we were told can be chalked up to a rite of passage, a small step into adulthood. Like the lies of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny, our childhood friends reinforced our parents’ hiding the truth. When I was about nine or ten, I realized that Santa couldn’t fit down our chimney because we had no chimney. My Mom fessed up quickly, after the pressure I applied (being annoying), much to my shock and surprise, she fessed up, but swore me to secrecy.
Once the Santa myth was crushed, I figured out that the others were a similar lie, and the dominoes of childhood lies began falling. Seriously, how could an Easter Bunny deliver colored eggs? And, about that time, we had a white rabbit, much too fat and slow to give us anything in his chubby jaws. He passed away, probably from a heart attack, but Mom said he had gone to “rabbit heaven” and was living it up in green pastures with other white bunny friends.
This period of my childhood would cause a cascade of thinking that destroyed many of the myths of childhood: Goblins, Leprechauns, Cyclops, Werewolves, and the Loch Ness Monster. I’m glad these went down in flames. They were scary. My brother had nightmares about them. My nightmares were more about getting run over by a train.
My Mom, who grew up in a small Southern town during the “good ole days” of the 1930s and 40s, was not about wasting anything. My younger brother and I bathed in the same tub in a couple of inches of water, a lovely brown color at the end. Fortune shone on my sister because she had clean water, something scary about “infections” in little girls, according to my Mom. My sister, four years younger, had to endure the sworn facts her friends told her that if she bathed in the same tub as us boys, she might get pregnant. I swear!
I was also guilty of telling a few lies. My brother bore the brunt of these, and I may have traumatized him and, yes, my guilt is still there. My favorite was that there was a monster under his bed that only came out at night; hairy, ugly, drooling, and hungry for tender kids’ feet. Later, I discovered that one of my cousins was telling him the same story, so it must be “true.” I’m not sure how much sleep he got those nights. These lies ran counter to my religious upbringing, and I never linked the under-the-bed monster, Santa and the Tooth Fairy.
Some of the lies told to children are classics, like if you swallow a watermelon seed, a watermelon will grow in your stomach and you’ll need surgery to get it out. Or, if I did not clean my ears thoroughly, potatoes would grow out of them. Naw, unbelievable. I had too much experience swallowing seeds and having dirty ears with nothing happening. Another was that eating cooked spinach (which I hated) would give me large muscles like the cartoon character Popeye. I still don’t like spinach, but I remember the reason why I ate it as a kid.
My brother and I were always keen on watching The Lone Ranger on Saturday morning. We’d sit as close to the television set as possible. Mom would tell us that if we sat too close, we would need glasses. No kid wore glasses then, except those who were “weird.”
Later in life, during the old High School days, I had a Social Studies teacher tell us about the myths, rituals, and disinformation that passed from one generation to the next and how this had been done for hundreds of years. For good or bad, and I don’t think many are that bad, much of this is now lost because we’ve been ushered into the age of smartphones and computers.
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Good throw back, Gen. S. 😂
— Gen. Satterfield is on a roll with a number of blog posts that take us back to our childhood and he does it with respect and a touch of humor. I do love his series on “Letters to My Granddaughter.” If you’ve not read them, then take some time. Here is the link to the series, which are in the order posted (not chronologically). Let’s encourage him to turn these into a book. If nothing else, the read is certainly going to be very very entertaining, and a laugh a minute. Take this nostalgic journey along with him.
Ha Ha, just gotta love it — yep!!!!!!
‘Letters to my granddaughter’ series https://www.theleadermaker.com/granddaughter-letters/
Fun para. “Some of the lies told to children are classics, like if you swallow a watermelon seed, a watermelon will grow in your stomach and you’ll need surgery to get it out. Or, if I did not clean my ears thoroughly, potatoes would grow out of them. Naw, unbelievable. I had too much experience swallowing seeds and having dirty ears with nothing happening. Another was that eating cooked spinach (which I hated) would give me large muscles like the cartoon character Popeye. I still don’t like spinach, but I remember the reason why I ate it as a kid.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield
Sir, excellent article that grabbed my interest and I think the interest of others here, esp. those who are regular readers. If only we all had know the “55 Rules” you wrote when we were kids, then our lives might have been on a better, easier, smarter path and obstacles would be pushed aside easier and with foreknowledge. Great works here. i hope others read this article.
Oops, forgot the link https://www.amazon.com/55-Rules-Good-Life-Responsibility/dp/1737915529/
’55 Rules for a Good Life” ….. read it today!
Great book! Period. If you haven’t read it, you are voluntarily being ignorant. LOL.
Ah, taking me back to my childhood days.
This telling of lies is a bad way to begin childhood because whether we believe it or not, lying sets us on the wrong path to becoming a good adult. And it matters not how little the lie may be. Yeah, we feel great telling our kids that there is a Santa Clause (fill in the blank for whatever else) but the impact is long lasting. Not mean or awful, necessarily, but it says that white lies, small lies, are all AOKAY. And they are not. We need to not be brutal with the truth but we don’t need to lie about it. Saying your rabbit went to “rabbit heaven” is just wrong, sorry sir, but that is my opinion.
I had a hard time as a kid telling the truth. But I suffered for it and learned just better to tell the truth and take your lumps early. Life is so much better that way, interesting and adventurous.
You sound like Gen. Satterfield.
… a compliment for sure. 🕷🕷🕷🕷
Indeed we are. The thinking changes, for the better, as we read and study how to be better at what we do in life.
We start our lives as selfish and self-centered. Perhaps this is a survival mechanism, don’t know but I’m sure several psychologists could weigh in on this idea. But, to mature and be capable of sacrificing for the future is the epitome of advanced thinking and social institutions. Some civilizations cannot do this well and thus why some cultures are better than others. I know this runs counter to the Leftist dogma that we are all equal – or at least should be – yet they are very wrong and that kind of thinking assumes we all are loving and peaceful. The result of this thinking, incorporated into Progessive/Liberial ideas leads always to great violence.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Good insights.
“Later in life, during the old High School days, I had a Social Studies teacher tell us about the myths, rituals, and disinformation that passed from one generation to the next and how this had been done for hundreds of years. For good or bad, and I don’t think many are that bad, much of this is now lost because we’ve been ushered into the age of smartphones and computers.” — Gen. Doug Satterfield. The impact of technology has had a terrible impact on social skills and awareness.
The TRUTH. And also extremely invasive, to boot.
We still do not know the impact all this advanced technology will have. We will just need to find out the hard way and suffer the consequences.
Takes me back in time to my childhood. But those lies have had no lasting affect on me, at least none taht I can tell.