Stimulus Generalization, Children Examples

When my twin daughters were young,
   I taught them to say this prayer before going to bed.
   As I listened outside their door, I could hear them say,
   "Give us this steak and daily bread, and forgive us our
   mattresses."
   My husband and I always had a good laugh over this.
   That was over 50 years ago, and the memory
   still remains in my heart.

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   From San Francisco:

   When I was a child, I learned this prayer as "Our
Father, who are in
Heaven, Howard be thy name." I always thought that was
God's real name.

   **********************************

Groton, Mass.

   My mother spent her early childhood saying,
   "Hail Mary, full of grapes."

   ********************************

Missoula, Mont.

   My son, who is in nursery school, said,
   "Our Father, who art in Heaven, how didja know my name?"

   *******************************

Uniontown, Ohio

   I remember thinking this prayer was
   "Give us this day our jelly bread."

   ******************************

Covina, Calif.

   I recall reading something years ago about the
   Pledge of Allegiance. Some child thought it began,
   "I led the pigeons to the flag."

   ****************************

Cleveland, Ohio

   When I was little, I often wondered who Richard
Stands was. You know:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag . . .
   and to the republic for Richard Stands."

   ***************************

Schenectady, N.Y.

   I once knew a child whose favorite Sunday school song
   was "Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear."

   *****************************

Tampa, Fla.

   When my husband was 6 years old, he thought
   a certain prayer was "He suffered under a bunch of violets."
   The real words were "under Pontius Pilate," but at
that age, he didn't know better. To this day, we still snicker
   in church whenever that prayer is read.

   *******************************

Lake Forest Park, Wash.

   When I was a little girl,we sang a song in Sunday
school about Noah. Part
of the chorus was "And the rains came down,and the
floods came up." We lived next door
   to a couple of charming little girls who always sang
   this song while playing in their garden. Their words
   were, "And the rains came down, and the spuds came up."

   *******************************

Oak Harbor, Wash.

When my older brother was very young, he always
   walked up to the church altar with my mother
   when she took communion. On one occasion, he tugged
   at her arm and asked, "What does the priest say
   when he gives you the bread?" Mom whispered something
   in his ear. Imagine his shock many years later
   when he learned that the priest doesn't say,
   "Be quiet until you get to your seat."

   *****************************

Grand Junction, Colo.

   When I was younger, I believed the line was
   "Lead a snot into temptation."
   I thought I was praying for my little sister to get
into trouble.