15 Parents Shared What Made Them Realize Their Kids Were Actually Small Adults

As parents, we think we know our children. Of course, we live with them, and we know what they are like and how they act in certain situations. However, they often catch us off guard. It’s then that we realize that we don’t know everything about them. Attitudes that we simply could not have predicted show us a completely different side to our beloved children and teach us that, despite believing we are their guides in life, they’re independent beings—sometimes much more than we imagine.

Bright Side found a group of parents on a Reddit thread who told all about that time their kids’ actions forever changed the way they looked at their little ones. Just read these stories, we’re sure you’ll relate to more than one of them.

• I was playing hide-and-seek with my youngest daughter recently. My wife was counting and the two of us ran off into the house to hide. We both hid in her room and, for the life of her, my wife couldn’t find me. She did find our daughter, though. She asked her where I was. Innocently, she said, “I don’t know, Mommy. Let’s go find him!” Took her hand and led my wife away. I could hear her running interference the entire time, reassuring her mom that she didn’t know where I was, and tried to innocently redirect her from double-checking her room. When she did go back to her room and find me, my daughter let out a surprisingly devious laugh and ran to me, gave me a high five and said, “Yeah, Dad! I didn’t rat you out! Did you see how I led her away!?!” We all laughed, but now we know we’re going to have to really keep an eye on her. She’s way too sneaky and way too good of a liar for a four-year-old. ©openletter8 / Reddit

• My husband and I had had a few passing conversations about a close family member who is struggling with depression. To our knowledge, we hadn’t discussed it in front of our kid, and we hadn’t mentioned any names. But the next time we went to see that person, we later found out that our son took him aside and told him, “I love you Uncle J. I’m sorry your heart is sad.” So, so sweet that the kid was trying to help, but wow, my husband and I were embarrassed. We learned that day that the kid hears EVERYTHING, and we cannot assume that he’s engrossed in an activity and not listening to us talk. ©KingOfSnorts / Reddit

• My daughter was always “the quiet one” and “the shy one” and “we’ve got to get her out of her shell”, “she gets intimidated too easily.” When she was 4, we moved an hour away, she changed locations for 4-year-old kinder near the end of the school year, so she went into a class where friendship groups were already established. She buddied up with a little girl who no one played with (for relevance to this story, this girl has a large birthmark on her face.) Within two weeks, I was called into the teacher’s office because “her behavior was unacceptable.” Turns out this boy (who over the year had been repeatedly picking on her friend) told her friend “I think you have the ugliest face in the world” and my daughter replied, “No one cares what you think, you’re not important.” The teacher wasn’t overly impressed with me because my response was a very flat “But no one should care what he thinks about someone else’s face.” But talking with her about it afterward, it was the point where I realized that she wasn’t intimidated, she was just a listener, she told me everything this boy had said to her friend in two weeks. She took it all in, and she reacted in a way that we felt was actually appropriate. As she’s gotten older, it’s become more obvious that that’s the case with her, she picks up on things very fast because she’s always listening and taking everything in — she’s not shy or intimidated. ©t12aq / Reddit

• When my kid was about 3, we were at a playground about a 2-minute walk from our house. I had put dinner in the oven, and it was almost time to take it out. Kid wanted to keep playing up on the climby thing. So I said, “Come on, Jay! Let’s go home and eat fish for dinner! You love fish!” He didn’t want to come down, and he said: “I don’t want to eat fish. I want to eat... dolphin.” The way he said it made a group of big kids on the playground bust out laughing. I realized that he had, indeed, said it specifically to be funny, and that he did it to make the group of big kids laugh. I realized then that I was out of my league with this kid, and he would probably be the funniest person I ever met. ©GingerMau / Reddit

• I was folding laundry and my daughter was fussing. I went over to give her my undivided attention for a bit, and I was leaned over her playpen, talking to her and playing with her. She’s started “giving” me things lately, like her washcloth/napkin or crackers during meals. This time, she’s handing me her small stuffed bunny and I make it hop and give it back (back and forth for a bit as I’ve learned this is how she plays this game with me) and then, she takes her pacifier AND NEARLY SHOVES IT IN MY MOUTH! I was... not expecting that lol, but I caught it before it went in my mouth and mimed like I was sucking on it for a few seconds before giving it back to her and thanking her for being so sweet and thoughtful. Because I realized, my daughter is trying to share the things SHE enjoys with ME. Her washcloths (we use ’em as napkins)? She loves to play with them, chew on them, and “clean” herself up like a big girl. Her bunny toy? One of her favorites that she plays with when she’s in her playpen. Her pacifier? A comfort item, especially now that she’s teething and always wants something to chew on. These are things she loves and enjoys, and she wants to share that with me. My daughter is kind, and thoughtful, and compassionate. I feel so lucky to have such a sweet yet tough lil girl as my daughter, and I can’t wait to watch her grow into the amazing person I know she will become 💖. ©TinkeringNDbell / Reddit

• I spent the night in the hospital with my youngest while my eldest stayed home with grandma. We spent almost 10 hours at the hospital. I was awake for 26 hours by the time we got home. I had a couple of hours to sleep until my mum had to leave for work. A few hours later, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open, so I asked my child to quietly watch some TV and eat some snacks. I need an hour’s nap. I woke up to a spotless house. Every single book and toy had been put away. He was so proud of his efforts. As a 5-year-old, I was so proud I cried. I’m a single mom, so putting the toys away doesn’t happen often, as other chores take priority. ©brungup / Reddit

• My son was a certifiable little pain in the neck. I love him, but for a good long while, he was a deep-sighing, eye-rolling, obstinate, obnoxious little weasel. At the early teen age, where he barely spoke to his father or me, I was pleasantly surprised to learn he was spending a lot of time with close neighbors of ours, an older couple with an empty nest who went to our church. That little man went out and formed a friendship with the nicest people on the block all by himself. He even helped them with chores! I couldn’t get the little man to clean his room under threat of death, and he’s out there carrying out another woman’s trash! I was never so pleased or proud. ©Maxwyfe / Reddit

• When my daughter was 3, she said she liked the moons. I said Earth only has one moon, but some other planets have more than one. We were walking to the shop at the time, and she suddenly burst into tears. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, and we sat on the floor and had a quick cuddle. When we got to the shop, she begged me to get a teddy bear. Walking to the counter to pay, she said, “Moon is lonely and my stuffy stops my ’lonelies.’” The guy behind the counter refused to charge us for it and a lovely lady behind us asked us to wait. She bought my daughter a chocolate bar and a card for Moon. When we got home, she said we needed to write 2 letters. We wrote one to Santa, and the second one was to NASA, explaining that if there was room on the next rocket to the moon, could they please take the teddy bear to the Moon, so it wouldn’t be lonely. I posted it to NASA and I put in our address and an email address. Me, the shopkeeper, and the lady in line weren’t the only ones touched by this, because we heard back from someone at NASA! They sent a photoshopped picture of Teddy on the Moon and explained (for my eyes only) that they would donate the teddy bear to a children’s hospital. They said they were very moved because they never thought of it that the Moon might be lonely, and it was very sweet of my daughter. She’s 6 now, and swears blind on a clear night she can still see the stuffy on the Moon, and she’s glad it likes it enough to look after it for so long! ©MamaBear8414 / Reddit

• I recently had to put my dog down, that I’ve had for 17 years, and I was (am) devastated. I tried to explain to my 4-year-old son in an appropriate manner about how he needed to say his goodbyes. Even though I can tell he doesn’t understand fully what happened, he does understand that I was grieving, and he felt like he needed to comfort me in my grief. My son, who’s normally extremely independent, immediately began asking me if I wanted to play with him, which he normally doesn’t ask like that. It continued where he wouldn’t leave me alone (in a good way) and constantly asked me if I wanted to play with him, go outside with him, go hiking, read books with him, do puzzles, and play in his room, and I always took up on his requests. After a few days, his requests to play with him have gone back to what they were before. Even though my son couldn’t understand the death of our beloved dog, he knew the things that made him feel better would also make me feel better. ©ISeaStars19 / Reddit

• I just bought a car after not having one for a while. It took most of my money. I had mentioned to my 10-year-old that I needed to buy a car seat for her 2-year-old sister, but I’d have to wait until I got paid again. My oldest offered to give me the $20 her grandma gave her for her birthday to help pay for it. Obviously, I didn’t take it, but that was just such a sweet gesture. She was always a caring person, but it really made me happy to hear her say that. ©Om*gimaweirdo / Reddit

Do you know more stories like these? Why do you think children’s attitudes often exceed their parents’ expectations?