We are the last generation to grow up and mature without the internet.Maybe thats a double-edged sword.We had a lot more innocence we were free to believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman.
But now, with any information or misinformation available with every smartphone (and every youngster endowed with a smartphone), younger people seem to be more worldly than we were at their age.They have the ability to fact check anythingbut we didnt.And sometimes that was hilarious.But Mom saidLittle Virge, like any kid my age at that time, believed what adults told me.I had no way to check when my mom told me every time we opened the refrigerator it cost us a nickel.
She also told me ice cream trucks played their jingles when they ran out of ice cream.(I very quickly fact checked that one.)Kid LogicOther times it was just a kids way to figure out how the world worked with very little information but a lot of imagination.I thought brussel sprouts were baby cabbages and cartoon characters could just blow up a balloon and it would float, but I couldnt because I had the wrong kind of balloon.
I was six when I learned about helium.And dont get me started about Santa Claus! We didnt have a real fireplace so I thought he magically squeezed in through our radiator, like how the genie squeezed out the the magic lamp.(Rubbing the radiator to encourage him to come did not yield a happy result.)YOUR TURNHow about you? What was your kid logic belief about Santa Claus or anything else? What silly thing did a grownup tell you that you took seriously? How old were you before you learned the truth? Share your story in the comments!Virge Randall is Senior Planets Managing Editor.She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; her blog Dont Get Me Started puts a quirky new spin on Old School New York City.
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Publisher: Senior Planet ( Read More )
