Children Are Easy to Warp.

An example of the consequences of my imagination that occured when I was a kidlet.

When I was growing up, my father told me that if I ever swallowed an apple seed, a tree would start growing out of my head.

 

Or if I ate a watermelon seed, vines would start growing out of my head.

 

Being a bright and imaginative child, this thought horrified me. I imagined the vines growing out of my head; out of my nose and mouth until I suffocated.

 

However, the thought of a sapling popping out of my skull hadn't occured to me, nor the damage such an occurance would inflict.

 

The moral of the story is this: children are easy to warp; choose your words wisely.

Author's Note

This is true.

Reviews

[bailish]

I was also taught this. Another thing that stayed with me for years was that if you crossed your eyes, then one time they might get stuck. After that, I saw a guy with his eyes crossed permanently, so I thought he must have crossed them in play and got stuck for him.

I agree. Should we be saying these things to our kids? But then, do we want them doing the wrong behavior?
What's the solution?