sleeping

Up until the age of about 9 I believed that when you were dreaming, and falling, you had to wake up before you hit the ground in your dream or you would actually die. I used to have nightmares that I was jumping off of a swing and would wake up scared to death thinking that I was subconsciously trying to kill myself.

Michele K. in Illinois

I used to believe that you don't breathe when you're asleep. So, when my folks checked on me when I was supposed to be asleep, I would hold my breath.

kime

When I was younger my father told me if I slept with my head under the pillow the tooth faries would kick my teeth in.

Declan (L.A.)

I used to think that, when you were in bed at night, flying people would pass over you with big cameras. They would take pictures of you in your sleep positions in bed, and would make statues of people in all their various sleep positions, which they would then erect in their world. In their world they had "forests" of statues standing in all sorts of odd, contorted positions.

mc

As a very young child I used to think that the time I was asleep went by really quickly because in the morning when I woke up it seemed like I had just closed my eyes. I believed this so much that one night I got into bed, closed my eyes and then immediately opened them again to start my new day. I even got dressed before my parents stopped me and put me back to bed.

Kimberley

My twin sister and I often used to pretend we were asleep to either gain attention or get out of doing something. One particular day we lay down on the sitting room floor to pretend were were napping as my older brother and mum looked on. My brother piped up that we must be faking it as when people were really sleeping they would repeat the word "urglyburghly" over and over again... cue 4-year-old twins lying on carpet repeating the word "urglyburghly" as treacherous sibling and mother stood laughing.

Caroline

My auntie told me if I went to sleep with a smile on my face, God would love me more. I couldn't get to sleep most nights 'cos my facial muscles hurt so much from smiling!

Mari-Ann (UK)

My dad snores, but my mom doesn't, so when I was little I thought only men snored. So one day at school I was talking with a friend about our parents, and she said that her mother snored. I replied in shock "Your mom's a MAN?"

Meghan

When I was four, I discovered that I didn't breath through my mouth when I was sleeping (you must realize that back then I didn't know that I could breath through my nose). So every night for the next week or so, when I got into bed I'd close my eyes and hold my breath in a fail attempt to fall asleep. The result: Every night I nearly suffocated myself trying to sleep.
Do not try this at home.

Marshmello Da Strawberry Cow

I used to think when I feel asleep anywhere besides my bed(Like the couch)hundreds little mice would come and lift me up and take me back to my room because in the morning I would aways end up back in bed.

LP

I was not a normal kid. Normal kids think that a monster is unther their bed right? Well, somewhere I got this idea that my great-grandma Gert was living under my bed in her nightgown and housecoat and if I dangled my feet she would pull me under and stab me to death...I'm now 14 and I'm still very afraid of her.

Anon

I used to believe that when I woke up in the middle of a dream, the other people in the dream would wonder where I went. It was especially gratifying if the dream was bad, like bad guys chasing me, for example.

Scissorhands

For several years when I was a child, I shared a bed with my sister who was 7 years older than myself. And one night I got the bright idea to try sleeping with the covers pulled over my head. Well, my sister told me not to sleep with it that high, because I might smother. So I pulled it down below my nose. I thought that was fine, but she told me that it was STILL too high! So I pulled it down to my neck. Again, still too high, so I went to mid chest, and then before it was over, I had the covers down to my waist. After she told me that was good, she turned out the lights and went to sleep, leaving me to freeze. And like an idiot I stayed that way the whole night, too scared to cover up because I thought I'd die if I did. Sadly, it never even occured to me that I'd never smothered to death before...

Angela

I used to believe that when I went to bed, if I kept my eyes closed and pretended I was asleep, mini versions of the X-Men characters would fly into my room and examine me to make sure I was really asleep. I thought if I opened my eyes while they were in my room they would kill me.

Glampire

When I was younger I thought everyone in the whole world fell asleep at 9, so I spent countless nights trying not to fall asleep before 9, and when I made it I thought:"Wow, now I'm the only awake person on the earth!"

Later when I found out that when it was night here, it was day on the other side of the earth, I was so happy I lived on this side because then I could sleep when it was dark and be out playing when it was day, but the poor children on the other side had to sleep while the sun was up and were awake when it was dark.

Maja, Norway

When I turned 10 my parents gave me their old bed and got a new one. The bed was a double so there was room for 2 people. 1 night i went to bed and i woke up with someone that i didnt know beside me (a younger cousin i'd never seen) and i was terrified. I began to believe that if i went to bed with an empty space beside me id wake up with a dead person next to me(I dont know how i got that idea). So i used to sleep on 1 side of the bed and cover the other side with pillows so there was no chance id wake up next to anyone.

Seabass

My sister used to tell me the reason I had to take naps was because while I was sleeping my parents would change the battery in my brain.

sarah

when i was little i used to believe in this thing called the sock monster. whenever i would wear socks to bed they wouldnt be on my feet in the morning or even in the sheets so i thought there was a monster under my bed who knew i was wearing socks that night and would crawl under my covers and steal my socks. i still dont like sleeping with socks on

Anon

When I was really little, I used to pull the covers up to my neck before I went to sleep. I figured that if someone broke into the house and came into my room, they wouldn't hurt me because OBVIOUSLY I was just a head on a pillow. Since the rest of me was covered, no one could tell that it existed except for me.

Anon

When I was little I was afraid of ghosts and would sleep every night with my arms and legs out so the ghosts wouldn't have any room to sleep on my bed.

Anon