Silly Childhood Fears

['andersom']

The fear of the "bullebak" (Kind of bogeyman that lived in waters) made some sort of sense.
My grandmother used to threaten us with that, there was a lot of open water around, where she lived, and, two of her sisters had drowned as babies.

Her kids, she had taught them to swim and keep afloat asap.

[Callaway]

These aren't childhood fears as much as they are silly things my grandmother told me.  She was quite a character.

My grandmother told me that coffee would stunt my growth, but I still wanted it anyway and she still gave it to me, but mixed with lots of milk.  I still like my coffee with lots of cream.

I had freckles on my face and I didn't like them.  My grandmother told me that I could get rid of them if I rubbed cow poop on my face, but I preferred freckles on my face to cow poop on it.

[Parts]

 I got all the  it will stunt your growth ones too on coffee, tobacco, alcohol.  I was also infused with all the food and germ fears you could imagine due to my grandfather being a health inspector some real some not.

['andersom']

My mum got told her freckles would disappear, if she washed them with gasoline.

Lets say it did nothing beneficial to her skin, but nothing too harmful either.

My grandmother, as a toddler, was given petroleum as a medicine for asthma, because of some 'lore'. That did do her harm.

["couldbecousin"]

  I used to bring my childhood sandwiches to school wrapped in tinfoil inside my lunchbox. 
  One day I thought I might have eaten a tiny speck of foil by accident, and I was worried it would hurt me.

[Parts]

Clowns and jack in the boxes disturbed me greatly and still do to some extent

["couldbecousin"]

Clowns and jack in the boxes disturbed me greatly and still do to some extent

  I've heard of clown phobia, I guess clowns + surprise = jack-in-the-box! 

['andersom']

When I was really small (three or four years old) my neighbour took me for a little ride on his motorbike. My little finger got caught in one of the handles and turned completely black and blue.
 
After a while the colours changed to somewhat brownish hues. I was absolutely certain that my little finger was rotting away and would soon fall off with gooey effects. Never told my parents about my fear, because I just did not tell them stuff that scared or bothered me.

So, I dreaded it all on my own. And for a long time after I would look in wonder at my right pinkie, that it had become so beautiful and pink again. To me it was a miracle.
 

["couldbecousin"]

When I was really small (three or four years old) my neighbour took me for a little ride on his motorbike. My little finger got caught in one of the handles and turned completely black and blue.
 
After a while the colours changed to somewhat brownish hues. I was absolutely certain that my little finger was rotting away and would soon fall off with gooey effects. Never told my parents about my fear, because I just did not tell them stuff that scared or bothered me.

So, I dreaded it all on my own. And for a long time after I would look in wonder at my right pinkie, that it had become so beautiful and pink again. To me it was a miracle.
 

  Stoic little calf.    Why didn't you tell them?

['andersom']

When I was really small (three or four years old) my neighbour took me for a little ride on his motorbike. My little finger got caught in one of the handles and turned completely black and blue.
 
After a while the colours changed to somewhat brownish hues. I was absolutely certain that my little finger was rotting away and would soon fall off with gooey effects. Never told my parents about my fear, because I just did not tell them stuff that scared or bothered me.

So, I dreaded it all on my own. And for a long time after I would look in wonder at my right pinkie, that it had become so beautiful and pink again. To me it was a miracle.
 

  Stoic little calf.    Why didn't you tell them?

I just didn't. Did not tell them when a teacher treated me unjust in primary school, even when it went on for weeks. Did not tell them about stuff like that in secondary school either. Think I thought I had to be tough and go through it all on my own.
 

[odeon]

I used to worry about volcanoes when I was a kid, never mind that we actually didn't have any in the country. I also worried about rabies at one point, but that was probably the very first instance of my OCD talking.

[renaeden]

When I was really small (three or four years old) my neighbour took me for a little ride on his motorbike. My little finger got caught in one of the handles and turned completely black and blue.
 
After a while the colours changed to somewhat brownish hues. I was absolutely certain that my little finger was rotting away and would soon fall off with gooey effects. Never told my parents about my fear, because I just did not tell them stuff that scared or bothered me.

So, I dreaded it all on my own. And for a long time after I would look in wonder at my right pinkie, that it had become so beautiful and pink again. To me it was a miracle.
 

Stoic little calf.    Why didn't you tell them?

I just didn't. Did not tell them when a teacher treated me unjust in primary school, even when it went on for weeks. Did not tell them about stuff like that in secondary school either. Think I thought I had to be tough and go through it all on my own.
 

I was like that too. I saw a school psychologist for a year when I was in Year 9 at school. Mum didn't find out until my assessment for autism when I was 27.

[Al Swearegen]

Magpies. Still have those fears.

["couldbecousin"]

I used to worry about volcanoes when I was a kid, never mind that we actually didn't have any in the country. I also worried about rabies at one point, but that was probably the very first instance of my OCD talking.

  I had a period of OCD-type intrusive thoughts as a child.  I wish I could remember whether this period
  coincided with one of my many strep throats, as strep has been suggested as a cause of childhood-onset
  OCD.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PANDAS   Whatever the trigger, that brief period was unpleasant. 

[WolFish]

Bees.
When I was a kid I picked up a bunch of ant eggs and brought them home. I put them under my pillow and dreamed they hatched into bees that came after me.

Not afraid of bees anymore, but go figure - as an adult I carry an epi-pen because I am allergic to the stings. I've been stung twice. The first time there was just swelling. The second time the EMTs tried to convince me to go to the hospital. They told me I should get the epi-pen.