Just imagine each time someone gulped down a watermelon seed, a watermelon tree grew in their belly. Atleast, 90s kids grew up believing just that!
If a millennial ever made a time capsule, it would likely reveal an era filled with pixelated video games, vinyl records, chocolate chip cookies, and encyclopedias. While their baby boomer parents did their best to instill good habits, they also passed down plenty of misconceptions and imaginary boogeymen. Justin (@90skid4lyfe) captured this hilariously in a TikTok video titled “Lies parents told us in the 90s.”
In the 27-second video, Justin shared ten myths that boomer parents told their kids—some were old wives’ tales, while others held a bit of truth. Here’s the list Justin shared:
In the comment section, @jmwoodman90 said with a laughter emoji, “I heard every single one of these, and now use them on my kids!” In other comments, people shared their takes and memories on different points from the list. For example, reading the point about watermelon seeds, @tapho.phil was reminded of “The Rugrats” episode where Chuckie swallows the watermelon seed and his friends shrink themselves to retrieve it. This episode was titled, "Aunt Miriam/The Inside Story," which aired on November 28, 1992.
For the point about interior dome lights of the car, people had mixed opinions. @justsomerandomguy1986 wrote, “The lights in the car are real. I was told it was illegal.” Whereas, @jess.sssme said, “The interior light is called the map light. It was made to be on when driving to see the map.” @mojave.wanderer said, “I got a ticket last week for the interior light BTW. $400 fine.” @x.queen.green.x affirmed that keeping interior lights on is indeed illegal. However, this is not true according to Corporate Driver Training Australia. There are no specific laws or legislation that forbids driving with interior lights on.
The same was the case with the “cracking knuckles” point. @coloradonana2 and @marissashaffer89 said that they believed cracking knuckles could give people arthritis. But according to Dr. John Fackler, an orthopedic surgeon at Houston Methodist, "There are no known detrimental effects to cracking your knuckles." He said that although knuckle-cracking may cause temporary swelling or a feeling of weakness in the hands, but not quite arthritis. He explained that the pressure applied to knuckles builds vapor pockets within the fluid inside the joints. This creates a vacuum that sucks the joint apart rapidly, causing a popping sound in the knuckles.
Similarly, the point about “chocolate milk coming from brown cows” and “pool’s water turning blue due to urine” are just plain myths. According to America’s Swimming Pool Company, a swimming pool’s water does not change color when peed in. As for the swallowing gum thing, Elizabeth Rajan writes in the Mayo Clinic that it doesn’t remain in one’s stomach for years and years. "If you swallow gum, it's true that your body can't digest it. But the gum doesn't stay in your stomach. It moves relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool."
As for coffee resulting in disruption of one’s growth, that too, is not entirely true. According to WebMD, no scientific evidence supports that caffeinated drinks like coffee stunts a body’s growth. The myth about growth results from the fact that too much coffee can disrupt the sleep cycle. This lack of sleep prevents their bodies from producing the growth hormone that helps the body grow taller.
So, as it turns out, most of these things boomers told their children were just plain lies. “Parents were always lying,” he captioned the video. And these were not the only lies that millennials grew up with. In the comments, millennials shared other lies their parents told them. @amanda.johnson1313 said, “I heard all of these plus the classic, ‘If you keep making that face it will get stuck like that.’” @cloverhippiekitty85 recollected, “My mom used to tell me if I ate raw cookie dough I would get worms I believed her till I was 12.”
@90skid4lyfe Parents were always lying #90s #90skids #parenting ♬ Every Morning (Remastered) - Sugar Ray
You can follow Justin on TikTok and Instagram for millennial humor and 90s nostalgia!
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