30 People Who Had A Life-Changing Experience Because Of A Kid’s Words

None of us are perfect by far, but all we can do is try to be better. However, this is easier said than done, especially when considering how self-involved most people naturally are. But there are moments when something happens, a trigger like nothing else hits you in such a way that you cannot ignore it.  One of these catalysts can be through a child who bombards you with a brutal and honest truth that you just can’t ignore. One viral thread on Reddit explored this emotional upheaval quite insightfully as you can see below. Scroll to read what these adults went through after being called out by a child in such an impactful way that they couldn’t ignore the life-altering ramifications of the experience. 

#1

Image source: Carlyone, Nicola Barts My father is a sober alcoholic. The binge drinker kind where he could go months sober and then drink his head off for weeks. He always was seeking to form "father/child" moments with me when drunk, often ending with me crying. During one of these times, when I was a teenager, I turned it around on him and held a long monologue, detailing very carefully how he was making me feel, how he was pushing me away. How I feared for my little brother if he were to see him do this. Asking him why he delighted so in hurting me. Ruthlessly, brutally in a calm tone of voice just detailing it all and ending it with "I've had enough. I will not say a single word to you if you even had just as little as a glas of beer." He was silent for a long while, then stood up and left without a single word. And that is the last time he drank, he went to get help and have now been sober for almost 20 years. He says it is the most brutal, and most needed thing anyone has ever said to him.

#2

Image source: sevensantana7, Olya Prutskova Not to me but to a friend who is a smoker. She was coughing alot due to a cold and being a smoker. Child was 3 at the time. He looks at her and says, " you are going to die." We all looked shocked and i tell him thats not nice to say to people. My friend however replies, " well then am i going to heaven or hell? And he says, " just go to a doctor."

#3

Image source: sheribubble, Ketut Subiyanto "Your glasses are weird, what do you look like without them?" *takes them off* "Ew, put them back on"

#4

"Your breath really stinks!" That was my daughter, and the last time I ever had a cigarette. Image source: anon

#5

Image source: anon, anon I went to China to teach at an English summer camp. It was a month long experience, and during that time the children all got to pick American names. These ranged from Tommy to Robot. One day the kids thought it would be fun to give me a Chinese name. The host teacher mentioned that my real name is very close to the Chinese word for beautiful, so I should take that as my name. The kids all paused for a minute thinking about it, before one popped up and said, "Not so much beautiful, but still very nice." Thanks kid. Edit: [Bonus photo of our Halloween party.](http://imgur.com/gallery/bWVLy) Edit 2: Yes, I'm the white person. Edit 3: Thanks for all the love and subsequent ginger hatred.

#6

Image source: shainajoy, Arthur Krijgsman I work at an after school program with kids aged 5-12. I had recently had a miscarriage and told the kids I was no longer pregnant because they were excited about me giving birth in the future. I tried to let them know that "my baby stopped growing and it passed away in my tummy." Some of them were pretty bummed out after hearing the news. When I was leaving at the end of the day, I was saying bye to a few of them and one of the second graders who adores me yelled out "Sorry again about your dead baby!" For some reason it made me laugh instead of any other emotion. After so much crying from the actual miscarriage, I started cracking up and just said thank you.

#7

Image source: flip-top, Priscilla Du Preez Years ago, I brought my then-girlfriend to my parents vacation house for the first time & introduced her to my entire family. I was grabbing a beer out of our little fridge in the garage when out of nowhere my 8 year old nephew says "She is way too good for you, Uncle Flip". I just stared at him & he just laughed. I married her, we are happy, but he still was not wrong.

#8

Image source: Csonkus41, Matheus Rodrigues A couple weeks ago my fiance and I got into an argument and my 9 year old step daughter told me "you aren't the best boyfriend, but you are a really good dad." Simultaneously made me really proud and feel really s****y.

#9

Not me, but a female friend of mine. See, we were at a kindergarten helping out, and this kid comes up to her and the following hilarious conversation ensues: >Kid: "Are you a girl?" >Friend: "Yeees..." >Kid: "So, do you have boobs, too?" >Friend: "Yes, I do." The little boy examines her head to toe, and then after some thinking follows up with: >"And where?" We nearly died laughing, with my friend having a small existential crisis about how flat-chested she apparently was. Children are so brutally honest. Image source: AmBozz

#10

Image source: DrunkenYeti13, Daniel Duarte My 4yo said to my Portuguese wife who was pregnant at the time and hormones were all jacked up, "mommy why is your lip fuzzy." I never saw her leave that quickly for the salon. She also said to me. "Daddy I like cuddling with you because you are soft and squishy like a bear." To the gym I go!!

#11

Image source: damecourt, Biova Nakou Last Thursday, after I had a particularly stressful day at work, my 7-year-old said, "The only job that matters to me is being my dad and you're awesome at it. And if mommy leaves you for another dad, I will always tell the new dad that my old dad was my favorite dad." "Thanks. I love you. Where's your mom?"

#12

Image source: anon, Andrea Piacquadio So while my wife and I were living in her parents guest house, we'd see her niece and nephew visit a lot. One day, I got fired from my job. And for a while after, the kids would wonder why I was home during the day. My niece comes up to the guest house door. **Niece: hey uncle? How come you're not at work?** Me: I already told you, I got fired. That means they let me go and don't want me to come back to work. **Niece: Oh...** -nephew comes up- *Nephew: HEY UNCLE WHY ARE YOU HOME ALL THE TIME NOW?* **Niece: He did a bad job, so now they don't want him to go to work** *Nephew: Why? Is he stupid?* Me: ..... -both kids wander off without letting me explain further- Th-thanks kids. My self esteem needed that **edit:** so im getting questions on why I was fired. I was working as a stocker at a big-box store at the time. I was under a lot of stress at the time, from college and family and work and etc etc... Well. One day it all just kinda exploded. I had this super aggressive breakdown where I was throwing merchandise, breaking things. I took a tire iron (still i the package) and tried to smash a few boxes in the back room. It was bad. Im not proud of it. But sure enough, it got seen and I was let go pretty quick. And the thing is? It all got set off because I couldn't find the right spot on the shelf for some item in the auto department. So when my nephew said, **"is he stupid?"** that actually hurt. Because I felt really goddamn stupid for losing my temper so hard.

#13

"Daddy, why do you have so many wives?" My 3 year old, Disney princess movie obsessed, daughter said to me. I was a single, 20 y.o. dad with full custody, so naturally she saw me go through a few different girlfriends. That was the moment I decided things were gonna change. Image source: HashtagSparta

#14

So this is actually something I said to my dad when I was the innocent age of four. Preface: my dad worked a lot, so I didn't spend that much time with him. Also, he was kind of a d**k. Dad: "who's your favorite daddy?" Me: "I like Heather's daddy." Dad: "But I'm your favorite, right?" Me: "No I like Heather's daddy." "Heather's daddy" is my uncle, and a great guy. Still makes me feel badly when I think about it. Adults can hurt your feelings, but kids can go straight for your soul. Image source: DrMeezy

#15

my daughter has just started talking, pointed at a hippo at the zoo and said 'dada' and then smiled at her dada Image source: blairmatthews

#16

I delivered mail for a period of time in 80s. I was about to put mail in the box and could hear a kid behind the door say, "Hey mom, the mailman is here and he's black!" I laughed. Image source: Stuntedatpuberty

#17

Image source: Pepitonator, Izzy Park Kid: Daddy why don't you have boobs. Me: boys don't have boobs. Kid: why does uncle John have boobs.  

#18

Image source: FrannyyU, Josh Willink Was having a father-daughter moment with my then 6 year old. She was worried about something but was struggling to open up to me. Eventually she did. Me: you can always talk to me about anything. I'll always be there for you. Even when you're all grown up. She: if you're still alive.

#19

Image source: Post-Apocalipstick, David Clode At the aquarium "wow daddy, that fish is even uglier than you."

#20

I was in my early thirties and my 12 year-old daughter made a comment about me being an old man. I said "Hey, you're gonna be old someday too, you know," and she smirked and said "Yeah, but not today." Image source: Benjaphar

#21

Image source: aardvarkyardwork, Gordon I've been a bit short tempered lately (stress from work, expenses etc), but I thought I was keeping it under control. Today, while they were goofing around, my wife asked our 3 yr old son 'Is dada a cheeky monkey?' He said 'No, dada angry monkey.' It's been a few hours since this happened, but I'm still feeling a mix of surprised, ashamed and sad. Edit: Thanks for all the support and advice! I'm sorry I haven't replied to every comment, but there are a lot of them :p I do appreciate every one, though!

#22

"My sister is just using you to make her ex boyfriend jealous." Boy was that kid right too.... Image source: natephant

#23

Image source: meadowsrock, Kampus Production My 5 year-old-granddaughter knew the speed dial number on my daughter's phone. Without my daughter's knowledge, my granddaughter called me and left the following message. "Grandma, you are so very, very, very, very pretty, but you're old and you might die. At the end of her message, I heard my daughter yell, "who are you talking to!?" Granddaughter quickly said, "I love you grandma. Bye." Click. I was 50 at the time.

#24

Image source: Squirrel_Bandit, Matheus Frade Four-year-old nephew, setting the table for dinner -- looks at me and announces, "you get the big fork, because you're the fattest!" And then proceeds to set my place with the BBQ fork. Lol.

#25

Brat to my then pregnant wife: "Are you fat?" Minimally-embarrassed parent: "Jordan, is that how we talk?" Brat: "Sorry... Are you shaped like a ball?" I'll be paying for this later, kid. Thanks. Image source: aedroogo

#26

My dad is a hardass lawyer that always thinks he's right. One time we were gonna play tennis with a teacher and he couldn't come and got mad when I said I didn't want to go either then. I yelled at him that the only reason I play tennis is to play with him. He looked so shocked and never has pushed me to play tennis without him again. It's the one thing I remember my dad truly taking to heart and realizing tennis for me isn't really about the sport. Edit: my dad also dyed his hair for a long time and it always kind of looked purple in the sun. I told him a million times that it looked purple and he never believed me. One day at said tennis courts a little five year old walks up to him and asks "why is your hair purple?". He dyed it a different color the next day. We still laugh about it. Image source: Dirtybux

#27

Image source: Ghost_withthemost, meme-arsenal.com Me: Tell me a joke. My 4 year old: You're a joke. I had been reading a thread where everyone was sharing jokes they've been told by kids, and I was curious what my son would come up with. I expected something hilariously random. I got emotionally wrecked instead. Not going to lie, I was pretty impressed.

#28

What's that ugly thing on your shoulders? Wait, it's just your head. I don't care if youre 8, you're not too young for a tombstone piledriver. Image source: ooSuitsyousir

#29

Me (while visiting my sister and niece, and easing my bulk off the floor): "Ooh, I'm getting old." 5 year old niece: "I can see that." Ouch. Image source: MarkStones

#30

Image source: Hines_Ward, Bailey Torres A kid in a Cambodian orphanage came up to me and said simply "big boobs." I'm a man.