11 Superstitions '90s Kids Will Forever Believe

We ‘90s kids are pretty superstitious. It’s probably a mix of the things Mary Kate and Ashley taught us and things our parents and teachers said to scare us into being careful and cautious, but we believed them, and the beliefs stuck with us and will probably never leave us.

Some of the superstitions make sense, while others were rooted in tomfoolery and the land of nonsensical. Like, who decided that a fallen eyelash is an opportunity to make a wish that will be granted? And why can’t we let go of the belief that Melissa Joan Hart has magical powers? And why do we still think that Genovia is a real place? And that Haley Joel Osment can see dead people? Were we any more impressionable than any other generation or TV watchers and story readers, or did we just grow up in a time where the things we believed in made good cases for our trust?

The things that I believed so firmly in the '90s I totally still believe today. Without even trying, without even thinking, it’s just become second nature for me to do these things, and so they persist. I still practice the wishing rituals. I still avoid the bad luck triggers. I still hold on to the belief that any new facts that go against '90s thoughts are unfounded. All because the ‘90s told me to. If you grew up in the ‘90s, these are a few superstitions that you probably believed and still believe, too:

You Have To Kiss The Roof Of The Car When Going Through A Yellow Light

Someone once told me that if you go through a yellow light at a traffic stop, you have to kiss your hand and touch it to the roof of the car. If you don’t, you’ll have bad luck. I can’t tell you why I accept this as a possible truth, but you better believe I do that every single time I pass under a yellow light.

You Have To Hold Your Breath When Passing A Cemetery

Someone once told me that you can inhale bad spirits if you pass a cemetery, and that the only way to stay safe is to hold your breath the entire time you drive past them. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve gone dizzy from holding my breath as I drove past a particularly long stretch of graves. I don’t even think about it anymore, I just stop breathing when I pass.

You Have To Make A Wish At 11:11

As if this time opens up some portal to a wish land. It makes no sense. But whenever I look at the clock and it’s 11:11, a.m. or p.m., I make a wish. And feel lucky for catching the time. It seems serendipitous every time.

That Standing Near The Microwave Is Toxic

This is probably something that my mother warned me about when I was younger and I absorbed the thought as truth. Whenever I turn the microwave on, I take a few steps back so that it doesn’t scramble my brain or give me radiation poisoning. As if microwaves would still be on the market if that were true! It doesn’t keep me from stepping back though, just in case.

That Tupac Is Still Alive

Someone started this rumor years and years ago. I’d hear chatter about it on the playground. It became such a popular theory that you were almost uncool if you didn’t think he was alive somewhere, relaxing on a mountainside, away from it all. After so many years of being told it’s true, a part of me will always believe it.

That Breaking A Mirror Is Bad Luck

Who knows, maybe my mother probably told me this to keep me away from her fancy mirrors. I was accident-prone and superstitious, so it was certainly reason enough to make me extra careful around mirrors. I’m surprised she didn’t tell me that dropping food on the couch and getting mud on the rug was bad luck, too.

That Pinky Swears Are Binding

If you pinky swear not to tell a secret, you’re deeply bound to keeping it. Rarely do I require a pinky swear in exchange for my secrets, but the power of linking pinkies is not lost on me. I’ll always believe that it’s a more binding contact that any old promise.

That Mood Rings Work

When mood rings became popular, we thought they were like oracles. While everyone was busy debunking their accuracy, I was busy learning about myself from a plastic orb that changed colors. It usually said I was angry, because it was red. But really that was probably just because my hands were always clammy. But rather than think logically, I’d tell myself I was really angry and get heated over anything I could think of. I tried on a mood ring the other day and it said I was calm and I instantly tricked myself into believing it was right and I was calm — in return, it actually calmed me down.

That Pluto Is A Planet

Just as we learned about all the planets and got used to the acronyms (My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas), they took Pluto away! The pizza! They said it was too small to be a planet. But we had already done reports on it and wore t-shirts with its picture and put glow stickers on our ceilings with its shape. There’s no way astronomers will ever fully take Pluto away from '90s kids. It's our planet forever.

That Crossing Your Fingers Makes You Unaccountable

If you cross your fingers while you say something, you're morally absolved of it. If you promise your boss you didn’t eat her last yogurt, but your fingers were crossed, then you're not a liar. If you promise your friend you won’t repeat a secret she shares with you, but your fingers are crossed, you’re free to tell the world in good conscience. It's a loophole we'll never let go of.

If You Share Your Birthday Wish, It Won’t Come True

To this day, I’ve never repeated a birthday wish. Someone once told me that it will come true so long as you keep it a secret. Out of superstitious fear that this is true, I will never tell anyone what I wished for when I blew the candles out — because I'm still waiting for the wishes to come true.

Images: Giphy, Dualstar Entertainment