My mother told us that if you bake a cake while having your period, it wouldn't rise.

Also whipping cream or making soup while menstruating was a bad idea. Soup would go sour and the cream would curdle....



God knows how she managed to feed us consistantly throughout her fertile years though..


Please do tell more ;-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 01:27PM by Becca.

My favorite was from a Jr High gym teacher who would not let girls play full court basketball, because "if you run with your period your uterus will fall out." Clearly all those women in the WNBA have missed this memo. But then again it was the 60's.

When I told my mother, the nurse, she almost hurt herself laughing. I believe the gym teacher was set straight since I never heard about that again after I shared that gem with my Mom.

Trying to think of the noise a uterus would make when hitting the gymnasium floor.

I assume a cartoon "SPLAT".

It would probably bounce a bit, too, right? And if you stepped on it you'd slip and fall, I t'ink.

If you swallow chewing gum, your guts will stick together.

How dare you be upset with (insert name of any abusive relative) because they love you! 0r, because they're you're cousin, parent, etc.)

Never use tampons because they can get lose and travel around in your body and have to be removed by a doctor. (She actually believed this!)

You have to do well in school because girls just do better. Boys are not expected to make good grades.

Divorced women are all whores and should be avoided.

Dogs and cats don't get cold no matter how cold it is outside because "Those things don't get cold."

(Yep, as you can see, I had a fun upbringing.)Aquarius

"Pretty is as pretty does." She said this when she didn't like what I was doing. I guess she was calling me ugly. I knew several bitches who were pretty and a lot of very nice people who were homely. I never did understand it.

"She thinks she's so great." Used as a put down. So thinking well of yourself is a bad thing? No wonder I still have self-esteem issues in my 50's.

No shortage of those!

Aside from the churchy, culty stuff, I don't recall my mom telling me any urban legends like this.

Some other menstruation ones I've read and heard though:

Touching meat will spoil it
Going inside the house causes earthquakes and famine

You have to have your back pricked upon menarche and then bathe in a cold river so you don't bleed too much.

You can't get pregnant while menstruating

And one more for fun: Sleeping with the full moon touching your face will warp it.

Some whoppers my parents used to tell me are The church is true, Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, We are lead by a modern-day prophet who receives revelation right from God.

I know, I know, it's the kind of hogwash you wouldn't expect a toddler to believe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2015 02:40PM by midwestanon.

If you shave a baby's head, they will never go bald.

(This is typical in middle eastern/south Asian cultures. I was a shaven 2 year old)

I know that is a myth without any basis.

The nonsense surrounding menstruation amazes me. Sadly :(

Things my friends TBM mom told him....my mom never told me this stuff....

If you masturbate, you'll go blind.

If you masturbate as a child, you can't have kids as an adult.

If you masturbate, your penis will fall off.

Sexual hangups anyone?

Let a baby cry itself out
Hardship builds character
Polygamy is good for kids
Only men can handle money

If I masturbated often.

Put a jacket on or you'll catch your death of a cold.

My mother always scoffed told me it was total nonsense that you would catch a cold if you went outside in the cold without a coat. You would of course catch a chill via this behavior.

I didn't, and still don't have any idea what exactly a "chill" is!

Whistling inside the house is bad luck.

When you move, taking a broom with you from the old house to the new house is bad luck. You leave the old brooms behind and buy new ones.

Opening up an umbrella in the house is bad luck.

When you leave the house for a trip it is bad luck to go back to the house if you forgot something. If you think you left the stove on, you take your chances and go back. If you forgot your Walkman or shoes, you're SOL.

On New Year's, you have to eat certain foods for good luck and prosperity.

Of course there's the typical black cat crossing the path, walking under a ladder, and throwing salt over your left shoulder if you spill it. I also knock-on-wood, not that this is something my mother taught me. I cross myself too, but I grew up Episcopalian (think Catholic).

Growing up in an Episcopal home, you hang a cross on the east wall, as this is good luck because Christ rose in the east.

Not a "mom thing," but a "superstitious thing," my I learned from my exhusband (the Mormon) that hanging the horseshoe like a "U" was bad luck, when I thought that's how they were supposed to be hung. I always thought it held the good luck *in*, rather than "spilling" it, but I guess it's nice to think that whenever you or anyone else enters or exits the home and doorway, the good luck "spills" on you. :) So for good luck, you hang the horseshoe upside down. I don't know if there's any more reasoning and folklore to it.

I never heard of the superstitions around cooking and menstruation. In fact, I can't think of any superstitions around menstruation right now, other than the typical pregnancy and virgin/tampon ones mentioned, but I never learned those from home or my mother; rather I learned these things through friends at school.

I can't speak as if I know for sure, but apparently my grandfather used to attend churches (Orthodox of some variety, Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox?) where menstruating women had to sit separately from the rest of the congregation at Sunday Mass. There were some congregations where women and men were separated anyway, but women who had their periods apparently had to be separated further.

Would anyone "in the know" care to post the link to the original thread? I can't seem to track it down. Thanks! :)

Any married couple who "lives the gospel" will have a happy marriage.

If you "live the gospel" you can be happy in any occupation.

omreven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Would anyone "in the know" care to post the link
> to the original thread? I can't seem to track it
> down. Thanks! :)

Here it is:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1707111

In the UK you always hang horseshoes like a U, like you say, otherwise all the good luck will spill away. Also black cats crossing your path are good luck. All the superstitions change drastically depending on your location.

That if I flogged the fowl too much, it would fall off and hair would grow on my palms.

That may have proved wrong. I'm not one to say.

When I was doing my work in a government office, there was a lot of paperwork to it. A woman and her little boy were at my desk, and it was obvious that the kid was getting bored and restless. Hell, I was getting bored and restless too.

The kid wiggled, an squirmed, went to the drinking fountain frequently and then naturally, had to use the restroom. He started asking his mother, "Can't we go home yet?" Unfortunately, that particular case was long and tedious and required form after form.

Finally, the mother narrowed her eyes and said to the kid, "If you don't be quiet and sit still, I'll tell this lady to GIVE YOU A SHOT!!!" The kid looked at me with eyes widened in terror. His face contorted and he began to cry, loudly.

I knew that the mother was only trying to shut the kid up, but her tactic pissed me off. I said quietly, "Ma'am, please don't say that to your child." To the terrified little boy, I said,
"I think your Mommy got our office mixed up with the doctor's office. We don't give shots here. We don't even know how. All we do here is fill out papers - LOTS of papers. Tell you what - if I give you some blank paper and a pencil, can you draw a picture for me?"

The mother glared daggers at me, but the relief in the little boy's face was like sunshine. And with the paper and pencil to keep him busy, he was able to be quiet for the rest of the time it took to fill out the papers. I felt bad that I hadn't thought of it before.

I wonder if, after all these years, that little boy has grown into a doctor-phobic man.

catnip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> To the terrified little boy, I said,
> "I think your Mommy got our office mixed up with
> the doctor's office. We don't give shots here. We
> don't even know how. All we do here is fill out
> papers - LOTS of papers. Tell you what - if I give
> you some blank paper and a pencil, can you draw a
> picture for me?"
>
> The mother glared daggers at me, but the relief in
> the little boy's face was like sunshine. And with
> the paper and pencil to keep him busy, he was able
> to be quiet for the rest of the time it took to
> fill out the papers. I felt bad that I hadn't
> thought of it before.
>
> I wonder if, after all these years, that little
> boy has grown into a doctor-phobic man.

I don't know if he is a doctor-phobic adult now or not, but he may well remember the woman who cared about him, and defended him when he needed help.

Thank you for doing this, catnip...

...this is a beautiful human story.

:) :) :)

Yes, great job Catnip.

My mother used lies and threats and humiliation as her main parenting style too, but there was no one who spoke up for me. And it does affect a child, into adulthood.

I was not allowed to go outside with wet hair as I would catch cold! (I still hear this one!)

This one was told me by a woman in St.George Utah.

"I can't believe that my daughter is pregnant again!

Why not?

"Well everybody knows that you can't get pregnant while you are nursing"

I was always told, "If you cross your eyes like that, someday they'll stay that way."

At 68 if it hasn't happened yet, I just don't think it's going to. lol

notamormon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was always told, "If you cross your eyes like
> that, someday they'll stay that way."

Several of my Mom's relatives, all of them born in Oklahoma, used to tell me this too!!!

:D :D :D