'I love me too.' Why listening to children can make us learn a thing or two

We’ve all got them – collections of cute things our kids say, little utterances that are uniquely them. Helen O’Callaghan hears from four mums, who share their children’s adorably funny remarks, and finds out what’s going on when children come out with these comic – but often very accurate – observations.

Ollwyn Moran with Matthew and Alex. 'Young children’s propensity for brutal honesty is literally down to brain-wiring,' she says. 

We’ve all heard them — those cute things kids say that in the space of one little phrase reveal their adorably unique take on the world. Fun, free, and totally original, these little verbal gems are precious for their capacity to brighten up your day.

Like when five-year-old Sophie, asked in school if she’d ever had chickenpox, replied: “Nope, but I've had chicken nuggets!” To a child everything’s new. They make surprising associations based on what they know and it’s totally logical from their perspective. Like Vicki O’Callaghan’s seven-year-old who, when she was three, was obsessed with her granddad (he had a beard). “Everything he said, she repeated. She’d say ‘now we’re sucking diesel’ or ‘let’s get the show on the road’,” says Vicki, co-founder of baby clothing shop babyboo.ie, recalling the day Ruby fell and hurt her chin. “I said ‘where did you hurt?’ and she said ‘on my beard’.”