Kids have no filter, especially when they’re on the younger side. This can make for endearing, awkward, and funny situations for their parents. The things kids say can cast a refreshing view on the world around us, though, so it’s worth listening when they speak up.
For one woman who’s been babysitting a friend’s three-year-old daughter, her ears pricked up when the little girl told her she loved the sight of needles and blood and couldn’t wait to grow up so she could inject people for real.
Scroll down to read the full story as well as a Bored Panda interview with the original poster!
More info: Reddit
Babysitter had been sitting friend’s almost 3-year-old and very smart daughter
Image credits: Gustavo Fring (not the actual photo)
Babysitter said kid is diabetic and was taken aback when she told her she loves needles and the sight of blood
Image credits: Artem Podrez (not the actual photo)
Kid said she believes her condition makes her special and her favorite part of the day is when she gets her blood tested and her insulin shots
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Mom told babysitter that the first time the kid had her blood tests done she cried when she couldn’t immediately have her blood drawn again
Image credits: u/adhdgf
Babysitter said she’s either sitting a future serial criminal or a great nurse, like the kid’s grandmother
OP begins her story by telling the community that she’s been babysitting her friend’s daughter for a few weeks, and that the almost 3-year-old is very smart for her age and wants to be a nurse like her grandmother when she grows up. She adds that the little girl is diabetic and will be insulin dependent for the rest of her life.
Apparently, the kid has a great relationship with her condition and believes it makes her special and lucky. Oddly enough, her favorite part of the day is when she has to have her finger pricked to check her blood sugar and get her insulin injection.
OP soon found out why the kid claims to love her diabetes. While they were playing nurse together, the little girl said she couldn’t wait to give injections and draw blood from people in real life, because she loves needles and the sight of blood so much.
According to the kid’s mom, the grandmother has a similar fascination, which is why she went on to become a nurse. Apparently when the child was first diagnosed with diabetes and found out she was going to be dealing with needles and blood on a daily basis for the rest of her life, she was thrilled and couldn’t stop talking about how much she loved the hospital.
OP joked that either the kid is going to become a serial criminal or a really great nurse like her grandmother.
In her article for Romper, Meg St-Esprit writes that, whether a child is super fixated on construction trucks or internal organs, the developmental reasoning is the same - young kids learn through repetition or fixations.
Image credits: Karolina Kaboompics (not the actual photo)
Dr. Donna Schuurman says that it’s normal, natural, and healthy for a child to be fascinated, curious, and filled with wondering about death or any other topic, whether or not they have personally experienced it up close.
Rather than an “obsession,” though, Schuurman encourages parents to think of their kid’s current interests as something they are just trying to learn more about.
In her article for Today’s Parent, author Bonnie Schiedel writes that most preschoolers go through a phase where they’re obsessed with something but can leave a parent wondering if it’s normal or not. About a third of preschoolers get really into one particular thing, developmental experts say.
Described as “intense interest” in the realms of child development, it often occurs in the two- to six-year-old range, say researchers. The interest in imaginary worlds and pretend play is generally highest between ages 3 and 5, when kids are wired to focus keenly on just a few things.
When kids are deeply into a topic, there can be some fantastic payoffs, like a longer attention span, boosted knowledge and persistence, a bigger tendency to ask questions, and deeper comprehension and processing skills. Put simply, obsessed kids generally become better-than-average learners. Well, the babysitter does describe the little girl as highly intelligent already.
Bored Panda caught up with OP to ask her a few questions.
When we asked her if she was surprised to see her post get so much attention, she had this to say, “I expected it to be appreciated as it is a very particular story with a catchy title, but I didn’t expect this much.”
She added, “It was so cool to see so many people reading my story and sharing their experiences as well. Also, I got many different perspectives about my story, some I didn’t even imagine and it’s always nice to see different points of view.”
When we asked OP what urged her to share her story with the Reddit community, she said she decided to share it because the little girl is one of a kind and she’s so special in many different ways that she thought the babysitting subreddit would enjoy it.
OP says that since she first posted, she decided to show the kid “Siamo fatti così”, an old cartoon of her generation that talks about the human body so that kids can learn about anatomy, and she loved it. She also said that the little girl’s passion finally gave her the courage to go for blood tests, something she’d been dreading doing for years.
What do you think about the kid’s obsession with all things medical? Do you think she’s found her calling already? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
Redditors in the comments said kids are just weird and shared their own amusing stories of their kids’ idiosyncrasies
