Kids Say The Darndest Things

"Kids Say The Darndest Things" --
researched that and found out "Kids Say..." was not the name of a TV show from the 1950s, as I had thought, but the name of a segment of a show called "Art Linkletter's House Party" which started on the radio in the 1940s and then for a while was on TV and radio, and remained on TV, 1952 to 1969 -- quite a run!

This week has been like that show, for me.
First, I get asked by a pre-school girl, "You were a little girl, before?"
So sweet.

And then yesterday a third-grade boy was looking at the camera-views from around our large work-place. His first and primary question was, "Where does my dad work?" (I answered that to the best of ability -- "he walks around in several different rooms, and makes sure everything is going OK." [hoping I was close]).
We spotted one guy we know: I said his name, and the boy stated with calm authority, "I know him. He has the office next to my mom."

Now, his mother has a desk with cubicle wall / dividers, in an arrangement with other desks and cubicle - wall - dividers. The man we were observing has the corner office. The point of that office, to the people who planned and designed it, is that it is the Corner Office. It is a good-sized office, with plentiful window-square-footage on two walls, and a conference-room table w/ chairs.

It's pretty likely they did not design that office with the specific direction that it be "next to Mom" - !

However, from a kid's-eye-view, the most important thing about the Manager's office, the defining description of it, is -- that it is next to his mom's desk.

The Manager may be of central importance to employees who work here, and to the Board Of Directors, but -- to Mr. Third Grade, Mom and Dad are of Central Importance and that's "all she wrote," -- have a Nice Day.

The key to why children's observations are funny is simply their Different Perspective. First, you are Surprised by what they say, because it isn't your perspective. Then, your mind has to make a "leap," to "quick-catch-up" and see it from their perspective, so you can figure out what they mean -- where they're coming from.

I think feeling empathy makes people feel better -- enhances your sense of well-being.
That's why we laugh, I guess -- because we are delighted, and at that moment we feel really good, to figure out what -- and how -- another person is thinking.

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