The Rosie and Roula Show

138: Silly Rules We Believed as Kids (and Why They’re Total Myths!)

• Roula Abou Haidar and Rosie Burrows

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Were you ever told not to swim after eating? Or that swallowing gum would stay in your stomach for seven years? Rosie & Roula dive into the funny, bizarre, and sometimes universal “rules” we grew up with—only to find out most of them are complete myths! From fish and yogurt “poisoning” to pimples from pointing at the stars, we’re unpacking the quirky superstitions that shaped our childhood. Spoiler: seeds are delicious, wet hair won’t make you sick, and no, gum won’t live in your belly forever.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • Childhood myths & superstitions we all believed
  • Funny food rules our parents swore by
  • The truth about gum, seeds, and soggy hair
  • How cultural “rules” shape us even as adults

Keywords (SEO): childhood myths, silly rules, parenting myths, old wives tales, childhood superstitions, food myths, cultural superstitions, funny parenting stories, podcast funny conversations, Rosie and Roula podcast

Tags: #ChildhoodMyths #OldWivesTales #FunnyPodcast #ParentingMyths #CulturalSuperstitions #FoodMyths #PodcastComedy #StorytimePodcast

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Rosie (00:01)
don't make me yawn Rula. ⁓

That's not nice.

Roula (00:19)
If you're watching us on YouTube, you see I have a paper because for this episode, I wrote some notes for the first time. Okay. And it's about the silly rules we follow, whether our parents taught us when we were little or we're taken with us. To give you an example.

Rosie (00:26)
Wow, I'm scared, okay.

yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. ⁓

Roula (00:42)
Lebanon we had long summers and we spent them at the beach days and evenings. It was amazing. And this is my voice. The voice of my parents resonates in my head after eating. Don't go swim. Wait for 30 minutes before you go in the water.

Rosie (00:59)
my god, yes,

yes! And you know what? That is a total myth, did you know? Absolute bullshit. Yeah, but I always used to, like if I went swimming before I'd let it digest, I'd be terrified. I was told you'd get really bad cramps. Yeah.

Roula (01:07)
Yes.

Yes! When,

how old were you when you knew it's a myth?

Rosie (01:24)
No, maybe like...

Roula (01:27)
when you started eating and swimming that way

Rosie (01:28)
I don't know.

No, I was scared of it for a long time. Maybe like 13, 12, 13, I sort of, I swam a few times, I'm like, well, I'm not getting cramps, I'm fine. Like, huh? And then sort of as later in my teens, I think I actually looked it up one time because everybody says it. It's just a thing. But it's bullshit.

Roula (01:34)
⁓

It's a universal thing.

OK, OK, another bullshit, another bullshit. OK, and I don't know if any other culture have that. when I were growing up, there was a warning. Don't eat fish and yogurt. You will get poisoned.

Rosie (01:54)
Okay, tell us another one, yes.

No, I haven't heard that one. Whoa!

Roula (02:14)
And you know what? I discovered this here in the Netherlands that it's bullshit because, okay, I have like blini, so this hearty pancake with sour cream and I'm saying yogurt, but it's every dairy, all dairy. It has sour cream, it has salmon on it and everyone is eating it and no one is dying.

Rosie (02:30)
Okay, okay.

Roula (02:39)
And I'm like refusing to eat it because my mom taught me not to eat yogurt and fish? What is this?

Rosie (02:45)
So this is you as

an adult. Yeah, these things stay with us. Where on earth did that come from? Wow. Wow. That's an interesting one. Yeah.

Roula (02:50)
in my early 20s.

Crazy, really.

Okay, this might be universal. Don't point at the stars or the rainbow or you will get a pimple on your finger, the one that you pointed.

Rosie (03:02)
Mm-hmm.

I haven't

heard that one ea-

Roula (03:12)
Can you imagine as a child you're saying to your parents, look how beautiful the star is. No, no, don't do that. You will get a pimple and we can never take it away. It's called in Arabic taloula. This pimple. And people have it but they never pointed at stars.

Rosie (03:12)
finger! Ouch! Yeah...

Yeah.

wonder if these little wives tales or whatever you want to call them, if they started from a grain of truth or is it just something to scare children? Because it's usually something parents tell their children.

Roula (03:49)
Maybe people had this and they couldn't explain it. So they said, they counted the stars or the rainbow or they looked at pointed at the rainbow. Sometimes when things are inexplicable, we just invent a reason to calm down the population. OK, I have another one. Don't go out with wet hair, you will catch a cold.

Rosie (03:56)
Yeah, true. Yeah.

Well, true. And then it sticks with you. Yeah.

Uh-huh.

yeah.

Roula (04:15)
Do you know that?

Rosie (04:17)
Yeah, or like if you get cold and you don't have something warm, you're gonna catch a cold. Which again, is bullshit. But even I find myself saying it? Do you still find yourself saying it?

Roula (04:22)
Yeah. Yes. ⁓

No, not anymore. Not anymore. I always had the proof of it by living in the Netherlands because I wash my hair and to have nice curls. I don't dry it. I let it dripping back in the days. And then I jump on my bike and I cycle for half an hour to work and it's cold and I let my head dry with the wind and I never gotten sick.

Rosie (04:36)
true.

Yeah, yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, well... Yeah, because that's not how

it works!

Roula (04:58)
I wasted time back home waiting for my hair to dry before leaving the house.

Rosie (05:01)
You're kidding! Wow!

Yeah!

Roula (05:06)
Yeah, my father would even get into an argument with us if we wash our hair and we leave the house right away. Like, we're killing ourselves.

Rosie (05:11)
No way. Wow. Wow.

Yeah, so the thing I've heard isn't specifically for wet hair, but if it's cold and you go outside and you don't have something warm to wear, you're going to catch a cold. Because you're cold. Of course you got sick.

Roula (05:32)
So funny. Okay, this one, I'm not sure if it's true or not. I didn't even look it up. And no one does it at home. Swallow in a gum.

Rosie (05:33)
Mm.

Ooh, okay.

Okay.

and it like never takes 20 years or something to leave your system. Is that the one? I think it's bull crap. I think I've looked it up before. Yeah, it just comes straight out. Should we look it up? Have you got another one? okay. Well, should you say it while I look it up?

Roula (05:49)
Yeah, it gets stuck on your senior, right?

Okay. Yes, yes. Yeah, I do.

Okay, cracking your knuckles give you arthritis.

Rosie (06:07)
I was told that by mum all the time.

Roula (06:10)
I was told that too. I do crack my knuckles. It feels so good. It's just air. Nothing happens.

Rosie (06:12)
And it's rubbish. Yeah. It does. Yeah, it's a relief.

Exactly. But that myth, yeah, stays around. It lingers, doesn't it? Here, the AI result on Google. No, swallowed chewing gum does not stay in your stomach for seven years. Oh, that's right. It's the seven year thing. While your body cannot digest the gum base, it will pass through your digestive system and be excreted in your stool.

Roula (06:23)
Yeah, true, Yes.

Rosie (06:41)
within a few days.

Roula (06:44)
Yeah swallow the gum people!

Rosie (06:46)
⁓ yeah.

But yeah, I remember as a kid in primary school, I used to be like, ⁓ whoops, I swallowed it! my god!

Roula (06:55)
Okay, about swallowing things. ⁓ okay. Don't swallow watermelon seeds.

Rosie (06:57)
Oh god. I'm scared. I'm hanging up.

Yes! Oh my god! Because it'll grow. Yeah! These are so silly. What? You eat them? Do you crunch them? Yeah, no. Oh. Yeah.

Roula (07:07)
Yeah!

What are metaseeds?

I love them, I eat them, especially I have, yes I do, I do. they're so good. I have a big watermelon in the fridge now and

the seeds are black and full of yumminess. We even sun dried them and eat them like peeled them. They're so yummy. And.

Rosie (07:28)
⁓ no!

Wow, I have never

done that. When I accidentally bite on a watermelon seed, I'm like, ugh, I don't care if I swallow it and I haven't chewed it. Like, when you eat passion fruit, Rula, do you chew on the seeds? you're kidding, you're weird.

Roula (07:47)
I love the seeds.

Every fruit that have seeds, I enjoy it so much. Apple, no, I don't eat apples. It's not an exotic fruit. No. Cactus seeds.

Rosie (07:53)
Apple seeds?

you don't eat apples? ⁓ mmm.

Cactus?

Roula (08:04)
You know the cactus fruit, it also have small seeds in it. Never? Don't you have cactus fruit in Australia?

Rosie (08:08)
⁓ I've never had fruit off a cactus. No!

Is that what it's called? Cactus fruit? Is there another name?

Roula (08:17)
I don't know what it's called.

It's from the cactus plant.

Rosie (08:22)
Hmm.

Roula (08:24)
So this is, love the...

Rosie (08:25)
Prickly pear,

maybe. No, I've never had one.

Roula (08:29)
they're so good if they're sweet, but you have to be careful when peeling them because they have a lot of. Yeah. You have to do it with Hans Hans. ⁓ so good.

Rosie (08:30)
Are they?

sharp bits. I can't believe you crunch on passion fruit seeds and watermelon. Doesn't it get stuck

in your teeth?

Roula (08:45)
Sometimes, but I floss anyway.

Rosie (08:47)
Yeah, I find the seeds so hard, ooh. But I'm curious to try the sun-dried watermelon seeds, because I like pumpkin seeds, they're yummy. Sun-dried, they're delicious.

Roula (08:58)
Yeah,

true. There is something with my mom and see it she even if we eat. ⁓ Perzik Gosh, I can't remember the name of the fruits peach or the other one, the orange one. ⁓

Rosie (09:14)
⁓ I per cut? Yeah?

Roula (09:19)
Yes,

after we eat them, she would wash the seeds, dry them, and then we break them and eat the inside. And it's all even better than almond. They taste better than almond.

Rosie (09:24)
Yeah.

Wow! Wow! I'm learning so much!

Roula (09:32)
Yeah.

Yes, my mom, I don't know, this woman was so avant-garde in the 70s and 80s. She's amazing. So yeah, guys and girls, seeds are yummy.

Rosie (09:41)
Yeah?

So hang on, hang on, hang on. I

need to go back to this seed thing, back to swallowing. Did you just decide they were yummy to eat or did your mum eat the seeds or what? How did this start?

Roula (10:01)
Mama, think my mom told us it's so healthy to eat the seeds, so it's okay to eat them.

Rosie (10:04)
⁓ So who told you the rule

then that eating seeds in the watermelon would grow? Not her, yeah.

Roula (10:10)
Not my mom. I heard it. Other people.

Because when people see me eating the seeds, but I'm chewing them, I'm not swallowing them because I want to get all the yumminess. I chew them. I break them on. Yeah. And I think this is where I heard that people say that you should not.

Rosie (10:16)
Yeah! ⁓

You don't swallow it? And then swallow? Yeah, yeah, okay, well.

It's so funny.

Did you have the saying growing up that ⁓ eating crusts gives you curly hair?

Roula (10:38)
No, never heard of this. Crust, what, like pizza crust? This is what you mean with crust? ⁓ gives you curly hair. But this is funny. We don't have bread with crust. We have like a pancake bread. We have like Lebanese bread. It's flat bread. So it doesn't have crust. And half of the Lebanese population have curly hair. So crust have nothing to do with it.

Rosie (10:39)
⁓ yeah that was a that was a crust on your sandwich bread

Mmm, because people wanted curly hair.

What?

Like flat brush, But you've... Yeah. Yeah! True, doesn't really apply over there. Yeah.

Isn't that interesting? ⁓ wow. Yeah. Or how about the one if the wind changes? The wind changes and your face stays like that.

Roula (11:13)
think these are sweet, sweet stuff.

Rosie (11:20)
Stop pulling that face if the wind changes it'll be stuck like that. Have you heard that one? No!

Roula (11:20)
What is repeat?

Rosie (11:30)
I used to try as a kid, I'm like, I want to see if it's real. And, mmm, poor silly face.

Roula (11:33)
Why?

do they do this to us when we were little? We were stupid because my kids would never believe this bullshit. They would challenge me. Even my Gen Z children will challenge me. What are you talking about? It's sweet. But our generations, we were silly. We were not silly, but innocent. don't know. I don't think I've ever been innocent. I don't know what to describe myself anyway.

Rosie (11:36)
Such rubbish, isn't it? Yeah.

Really?

You're full of shit, yeah.

gullible, I don't know. ⁓

No, I don't think you've ever been innocent either. No.

Roula (12:03)
And I have two more. Yeah. Don't sleep with head facing north. And I heard this from so many people, something to do with the moon and the sun. Yeah.

Rosie (12:04)
two more? Okay, okay, okay.

I haven't heard that.

What? What? ⁓

what happens to you if you do?

Roula (12:21)
I have no idea.

Because first I need to know where the north is. And it's my head there.

Rosie (12:28)
Mmm! Exactly! I don't know

which way's north!

Roula (12:33)
like a compass next to my bed. And every time I sleep, every time I travel, there's my head facing north.

Rosie (12:35)
Yes!

mean, some people would have a compass, wouldn't they? Like I know Muslims pray in a certain direction, so maybe they would have a compass, but someone, you and I would not have a compass.

Roula (12:51)
My husband

have a compass. What if the navigation in the car broke? No, I'm kidding. But he has a compass always. He's always prepared for emergencies. I love it.

Rosie (13:02)
love

that.

Roula (13:04)
Okay, between in the sideline, wherever we go somewhere, picnic, to the beach, for a walk, we are so prepared. And people go in with us, they have nothing. And they're like, do we need all the stuff we take with us? And then yes, they're cold, they're thirsty, their feet are hurting, they're, I don't know. And we have everything in our bag.

Rosie (13:16)
Yeah.

Rianto sounds awesome. Yeah,

is it you or him that is like the one who both okay? You're both awesome Yeah

Roula (13:31)
Both, both of us. I make sure for food and drinks

and he makes sure for safety, comfort and weather.

Rosie (13:38)
I love that. Because the

stereotype is it's always the mum or the wife who is responsible for bringing all the things. I love that.

Roula (13:44)
Yeah, no, it splits.

what was the other? ⁓ I think I, that's it. I think I ran my list. No, the last one was this watermelon seeds, but I switched them.

Rosie (13:52)
That's it! I wanted the last one! You said there were two!

I've

got a story about watermelon. So...

Roula (14:02)
Yeah, okay. Watermelon sugar high,

watermelon sugar high. Such a lovely song by Harry Styles.

Rosie (14:07)
I love watermelon. It's so refreshing.

Yes, Harry Styles. Have you got a crush on him, Rula?

Roula (14:15)
No, he's not my type, but I like his energy.

Rosie (14:17)
Hmm. Okay. I accept that. Back to my watermelon story though.

Roula (14:21)
I have

a crush on Pharrell Williams and Lenny Kravitz.

Rosie (14:25)
I swear Pharrell

Williams doesn't His skin is perfect.

Roula (14:29)
my gosh, I have to tell you something. I love it. ⁓

I like dark people with with when their lips are not big. This is a weird trait, weird trait, but I found myself, I found watching a series or listening to a singer or whatever with dark people with thin lips. I love them. I think they're so charming.

Rosie (14:42)
With thin lips?! What?

I don't know what to say to that.

Roula (14:58)
me neither. I said this to my husband and he was staring at me like what do I do with this information? He's dark with beautiful lips. like yeah. And he's like what?

Rosie (15:04)
Yeah, what do I do with this?

Really voluptuous lips. wow. He's

like, what? Yeah, let me tell my story. Thank you. Yes. eating watermelon. Love watermelon. Really refreshing, especially in summer. I had some friends around. It might've been a birthday party. I'm not sure, but I had a group of friends around primary school age and we were on the veranda eating watermelon.

Roula (15:16)
Okay, this has nothing to do with myth.

Rosie (15:36)
And for some reason, I thought I'd be really cool if I ate the watermelon skin. And in my head, because you know how often on fruit the skin has lots of nutrients and it's good to eat? And even pumpkin skin you can eat. And in my head, it was like, well, it's only logical that you can eat watermelon skin and that that's good for you. And I ate the whole, like, the whole thing. It was really crunchy and tough and...

hard to eat, I ate it all and mum found out later and she's like what you don't eat the skin and I went ⁓ I thought it was good for you and she went no you're probably gonna get a tummy ache and I went

Roula (16:17)
Did you get a tummy ache? That's another myth. If you want to eat the skin of the watermelon, you won't get a tummy So tell me, why did you decide to do that? To impress your friends, you said?

Rosie (16:18)
No, I didn't. Exactly!

You should try it.

Yeah, I think

I thought it was cool. Like, ⁓ I'm gonna shit them how cool I am. Actually, I think this was the same birthday, because I think it was a sleepover, and the next morning we had cereal.

Roula (16:33)
You

Rosie (16:42)
And we're pouring the milk and it was like, was like lumpy or something. And I'm like, it must be partially frozen. And then we're eating our cereal going, this tastes a bit weird. Like that tastes funny. Let me just keep eating. And we were up before my parents were and mum comes out and she's like, what's that smell? And she smells the milk. She's like, Rosie, that's off. What are you like, ugh? And we're all like, ⁓ that's disgusting. Ugh. But we, we were eating, drinking.

Roula (17:02)
⁓

Worst thing

is milk that has not gone bad.

Rosie (17:13)
I don't know

how we ate it. That stuff stinks. Like what the heck was wrong with us? Anyway.

Roula (17:20)
And now you brought me to a memory of the very first time I had cereal in my life. And it was the last time. Yes, I was having a sleepover at a friend's, maybe I was 11, 11 years old. And they were, they had money. They could buy the American stuff. They could buy the expensive stuff and

Rosie (17:25)
⁓ Do share.

Mmm.

Roula (17:47)
For breakfast, they had cornflakes, and I'd never seen cornflakes before, ⁓ with milk. And I never, ever drank milk, not because we don't have money for milk.

Rosie (17:50)
Mm-mm.

Well, is it the lactose or yeah okay

Roula (17:58)
I'm allergic to milk. My stomach cannot digest it. I don't drink milk and I don't milk products. Back

then they didn't know it's a lactose, but yes, it's a lactose. So the mom gave me a plate and I'm still observing watching how are they going to eat it. So they put the cornflakes and they put the milk and they started eating. Oh, and they put a lot of sugar because back then it wasn't, they didn't have sugar in it.

Rosie (18:07)
Yeah, okay, okay.

How do you eat cereal?

Ooh.

Roula (18:26)
And I started eating thinking, ⁓ my God, this is so disgusting. ⁓ there's not only the milk. It's this, this thing in it. What is this? But I had the mom was strict. So I had to finish my plate and I never, I never ever had cereals until after my daughters were born and they became four or five and I bought cereals to them. And this is

Rosie (18:41)
⁓ no

Roula (18:55)
I still don't eat it. But yeah, the one time in my life I ate cereals. Eww. Bleh. All right.

Rosie (18:56)
Mmm. Wow.

Bleh. Wow.

mind cereal.

Okay. This was a fun episode. Look at this. Every time we talk about food, we just blblblbl. This wasn't even an episode about food. What was it again?

Roula (19:09)
Yes.

No, we ended with food.

The silly rules we follow, especially when we were little.

Rosie (19:20)
yes, little.

Yes, that was really fun. Thank you Rula, I enjoyed that episode.

Roula (19:30)
Amazing. All right, listeners, thank you so much for sticking around. We promised to have short episodes, but they're happening to be long. We're cutting it now. Bye.

Rosie (19:38)
Yep, get

over it. Bye.