Kids' world-view is completely free and discharged of stereotypes, rules and time serving. So is kids' speech. And what we often take as funny quotes from kids may bear an ultimate truth and deep wisdom. Kids are genuine and organic and they have a natural perception of the surrounding world. Their thoughts and actions are still untouched by conventions and multi-layer filters of consciousness.
In the hard-hitting rhythms of modern adult life, when our every minute is pre-scheduled and any change can result to various scale catastrophes we find less and less time for our kids. Our brains are too busy with stuff like upcoming project presentation, an important lunch with possible business partners or another set of tight deadlines. And the sad reality is that gradually, obscurely, unwittingly we lose the connection threads with our most loved ones - our kids.
More and more families now turn to full time babysitting services spending less and less time with their children. The most important period of their life, childhood, period when a child's personality is formed is often missed by parents.
In the exhausted work-day evenings when we are told long stories about the neighbour Harry who hit the teddy bear or a great cartoon about the blue rabbit and green kangaroo, funny quotes from kids of ours often don't reach our ear. We pretend being in active communication with our child but our response to them is limited to random phrases like "Oh really, honey".
Throughout my long-term children workshop projects I managed to collect a treasury of quotes from my young participants. Pure as dewdrops, their words reflect the world completely shelled off, and their boundless imagination strikes with extraordinary pictures.
"I cannot think, there are hedgehogs running in my boots." - seriously said Liza, age 3, when I asked her to answer a question.
But what I heard from time to time cannot be defined just as funny quotes from kids. My workshops often touch upon "adult" topics, like happiness or love. Childish responses are always unpredictable, and though I have worked with them for years, they manage to surprise me every single day. Here are a couple of the pearls I have put down in my notebook:
"If they open the prisons, rain will come and wash away all bad things that men in the prisons did. But they must not give them umbrellas." - Max, age 5.
"Happiness is when Mom hugs me and it feels warm and nice as in the foam bath", - Ben, age 4.
Maybe we should also think deeper about what happiness is for us. Try to recall the time when happiness was not associated with welfare, career and success but could be housed in a bar of chocolate or mom's kiss goodnight. And maybe these recollections will help us understand better the unadulterated and deep little universes called Children.
Check out kidscutetalk.com for more funny quotes from kids. Discover the sparkling, colorful and funny world of childhood and submit funny sayings by kids.