Old Wives Tales- what are yours?

Rating: 5 after 2 votes

There are so many out there and I know you must have some of your own, or one you can't help but live by. One of mine is random. Growing up my mom would rub vick's vapor rub on our chests when we were stuffed up. Thats not the weird part, then she would put some on our feet and put socks on. She said it helped. Now I can't help but do the same to my daughter. I didn't plan on doing it, in fact I think it's strange, but after I apply it there is always some left over. So once I was like, hmmm where can I wipe this off, and then I glanced at my daughter's adorable feet and thought, hmm, well maybe it does help?

So now I do it, strange. What do you do? Where did you learn it? I'm sure there is someone else who shares it and you're not as strange as you thought. Please share!

Tags: habits, myths, old, tale, traditions, wive's

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Permalink Reply by Ruthie Appleby on December 20, 2008 at 1:19am: If you say a bad word you will get a canker sore!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nina on December 20, 2008 at 1:20pm: The vick's vapor rub on soles, chest and under the nose is a staple in my family. How about planting garden rue in the back of the house to ward off bad luck, touching babies' heads when they do something funny or are cute to ward off 'ojo', never going to bed with wet hair bc it causes grey hair. There are so many....some are funny and others not so....and yet I still do some of them.....especially the Vick's right now cuz i am sick! lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rossy on December 21, 2008 at 12:25am: ha ha! thats so great! I'll have to tell my sister this one, cause she has a canker sore right now!

Ruthie Appleby said:
If you say a bad word you will get a canker sore!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sherri McKnight on December 21, 2008 at 7:08am: If you don't drink your milk you won't have white teeth and your bones will become frail. lol, *sigh* then I grew up and discovered logic and common sense :)

Oh yeah, and this one too: Don't step on a crack or you'll break your Mothers back!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Erin on December 22, 2008 at 6:57am: we do the vicks on the soles. My hubby thinks I am nuts but it seems to help them sleep cough free or at least give me the peace of mind to sleep.

I also do mints for an upset stomach and honey for a sore throat

My aunt used to say "Little girls and boys who lie wet the bed" It must have stuck for me because I am a HORRIBLE liar and would much prefer to just tell the truth and deal with it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rossy on December 22, 2008 at 7:37am: I'm loving the responses! Some more of mine:
My grandma used to say that when your ears are ringing it's because someone's talking about you, but you never know if what they are saying is good or bad- so be careful!
She also used to say that if an eyelash of yours falls out put it on your palm and close your eyes and blow, if it's gone make a wish, if it's still there put it in your shirt.... strange. I used to watch her do it, I'll try to blow at it, but I've never put it in my shirt.
I love the things grandmas tell their grandchildren!
Oh! another favorite that I remember almost every day of my life is one my mom told me when I was 5 or 6. She said, you can tell if someone is a real lady if they put the toilet paper roll facing the right way. years later I remember going to my aunt's house to find her toilet paper roll on the wring way. I went to my mom and said " Auntie is not a real lady!" Now I just switch it around if it's wrong- I even do it in public restrooms. It just gets on my nerves to see it wrong.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mary Wehrle on December 22, 2008 at 8:30am: Ha I have a couple! My grandmother used to tell us if you hit your mother your hand will stick out of your grave! Once she was in Washington DC and my cousins were with her visiting a cemetery where they saw a grave marker in the shape of a hand with the palm facing upward. My little cousin was shocked and said Grandma! Look! That person hit their mother!

When I was pregnant with my first child, as I was reaching up into the cupboard to get something my mother in law practically panicked! She told me I shouldn't do that because I would strangle the baby. LOL I didn't know the umbilical cord was attached to my arm!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joyce on December 22, 2008 at 10:37am: My son is very blonde. When we lived in SF bay area, the older Japanese, and Chinese would rush over to touch his head. I finally asked and they said that touching his head would bring them luck. To this day my son hates his head touched.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nomz on December 22, 2008 at 11:39am: You know, I clicked on this hoping to share the Vicks vapor rub on the feet trick...and man on man what a trick it is! Works wonders!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Flachs on December 22, 2008 at 5:04pm: If you hit your mum, your hands will shake when ur older. Oh and if you shave ur lil ones head there hair will come back thick and lush. mmmmm interesting.lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rossy on December 24, 2008 at 12:12am: I have heard that a lot of people do the shaving of the head thing. Don't think I could do that to my little girl. We are super excited about the little bit of hair she has, on the sides.

Elizabeth Flachs said:
If you hit your mum, your hands will shake when ur older. Oh and if you shave ur lil ones head there hair will come back thick and lush. mmmmm interesting.lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by karen bullard on December 26, 2008 at 8:24am: My grandmother was aghast when we wouldn't get rid of our two cats when we have our children. She said that they would "suck the baby's breath" and kill them?? The kids survived but the kitties are long gone (of natural causes). She had lots of those though. funny!; ▶ Reply to This