Children believe everything their parents tell them. So when parents lie to prevent their kids to stop them from doing something dumb, the mistruth can take on a life of its own. The lie can get passed on from generation to generation until it becomes a zombie lie that has a life of its own.
Justin, known as 90sKid4Lyfe on TikTok and Instagram, put together a list of 10 lies that parents told their kids in the ‘90s, and the Gen X kids in the comments thought it was spot on.
“Why was I told EVERY ONE of these?” Brittany, the most popular commenter, wrote. “I heard all of these plus the classic ‘If you keep making that face, it will get stuck like that,’” Amanda added. After just four days of being posted, it has already been seen 250,000 times.
Parents were always lying #90s #90skids #parenting
@90skid4lyfe Parents were always lying #90s #90skids #parenting
Here are Justin’s 10 lies ’90s parents told their kids:
1. “You can’t drink coffee. It’ll stunt your growth.”
2. “If you pee in the pool, it’s gonna turn blue.”
3. “Chocolate milk comes from brown cows.”
4. “If you eat those watermelon seeds, you’ll grow a watermelon in your stomach.”
5. “Don’t swallow that gum. If you do, it’ll take 7 years to come out.”
6. “I told you we can’t drive with the interior light on. … It’s illegal.”
7. “Sitting that close to the TV is going to ruin your vision.”
8. “If you keep cracking your knuckles, you’re gonna get arthritis.”
8. “You just ate, you gotta wait 30 minutes before you can swim.”
10. “If you get a tattoo, you won’t find a job.”
This article originally appeared on 4.26.24