1. Santa Clause was real and so were his elves but the elves were hideous

The elves were little creatures that looked more like Dobby from Hairy Potter than the one in Elf.

2. If you eat watermelon seeds, a watermelon will grow in your stomach.

I think every child at one point believed they could grow a watermelon in their belly.

3. Turning on the light in the car was illegal

Here come the parents screaming at their children because the light was going to make them wreck or the cops would pull them over.

4. If you swallow your gum, it will stay in your stomach forever

I would cry every time I swallowed gum.

5. Marshmallows are made out of pure animal fat

Thanks to my older brother who made me believe that the white fat off of steak and other meats is what marshmallows are made out of.

6. Sitting to close to the television will destroy your eyesight and you will become blind.

My parents still say this to my younger siblings.

7. If you chew tobacco your face will become distorted

Chewing tobacco can lead to mouth and jaw cancer and can distort your face however, your entire face doesn't turn upside down as I thought.

8. If you touch a toad, you will get warts

This is not true but make sure you wash your hands after touching toads.

9. Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis 

When I developed arthritis and my mom would tell me it will make it worse, I shrugged and kept doing it.

10. Stuffed animals and mannequins come to life when you aren’t looking 

Imagine seeing headless mannequins running towards you in the middle of the night.

11. Step on a crack and you’ll break your mother’s back

Whenever I was mad at my mom, I would purposely step on the cracks.

12. If a guy is mean to you it means he likes you

Yeah stop teaching girls this.

13. The moon followed me everywhere I went so it was my friend

Talking to the moon made me feel loved and then I realized it had no cognitive function.

14.  I would only catch a fish if I talked to the worm before putting in on a hook

Imagine watching a child talk to a worm

15. If you punched a woman’s breast it wouldn’t grow for three years

Looking back I think we said this as an excuse to punch out friends.

16. Alligators lived in the sewers

I mean in a lot of cartoons you see alligators in the sewers so it was safe to assume it was real.