By Linda DeMers Hummel

Call them fibs. Call them a bunch of bad advice. Call them wishful thinking. Here are 18 lies that I once believed.

1955:   “Little girls can’t do that. Only boys.”

1965:  “The Dave Clark Five are better than the Beatles.”

1968:   “Relax. No one’s going to vote for Nixon.”

1971:   “Come on. A tiny bit can’t hurt.”

1973:   “It’s not you. It’s me.”

1975: “Wow. You’re getting married! I guess you know what you’re doing.”

1978:   “If you breathe correctly, childbirth is not painful.”

1981:   “Have you tried aerobics? It will change your life.”

1985:   “You’re the best mother in the whole world!”

1985:   “You’re the worst mother. Ever. Of all the mothers in the world.”

1987:   “Have you tried jogging? It will change your life.”

1990:   “Buy it. It’ll make you happy.”

1995:   “Have you tried Pilates? It will change your life.”

2000:   “Fifty is the new thirty.”

2009:   “You don’t look old enough to be a grandmother.”

2010:   “Sixty is the new forty.”

2012:   “You’ve lost weight!”

2016:   “Relax. No one is going to vote for Trump.”

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About the Author

Linda DeMers Hummel is a freelance writer based in Baltimore. She writes about family, children, babies, and life.