People Share The Creepiest 40 Things Their Kids Said, And It Can Freak You Out

It's easy to think that kids make up creepy stories because they "live in fantasy lands" but Emily Hopkins, a psychologist who studies how small children distinguish between fiction and reality, said that “generally they're pretty good at telling real from pretend" although "they can get tripped up in certain situations and circumstances."

"Even when kids start to pretend at about 18 months or so, they seem to understand the difference; if they're pretending that a block is a chocolate chip cookie, they don't try to take a bite out of the wooden block," Hopkins explained.

Kids can usually say whether impossible things happening in a book are real before they're 5, 4, or sometimes even 3 years old. "If there's magic, or things that violate what they know about the real world, that's what helps them to understand that those characters are probably not real. If a character in the book flies, or something, they’ll say, 'That person can't really exist in real life,'" Hopkins said. But if an adult tries to deliberately confuse them—for example, that Santa Claus is bringing them presents—they can be misled.

Kids use information from adults to find out if things are real: Hopkins mentioned studies that show that kids do believe in things they can't see, like germs, when they have been told they are there. Plus, kids use play to think through things that are difficult or scary. That way kids can "work through it in a low-risk way, process it without having to actually experience it themselves." There may be something inside the little ones telling these stories that they just haven't been able to express yet and are just trying to make sense of the world.

Luckily, kids can also crack us up. Talya Stone, a former public relations specialist turned blogger and the woman behind online journals Motherhood: The Real Deal and 40 Now What who has produced plenty of insightful texts on parenting, told Bored Panda that her little ones have definitely brought more laughter to her life.

"Of course, sometimes kids are just good old-fashioned fun," she said. "At younger ages, they have no inhibitions and will say and do all sorts of things that if they were adults would have them branded insane. They can also be incredibly witty at times. But then there are the times when they are just completely inappropriate and you can't help but fall about laughing. Children have an incredible sense of humor and their giggles can be wonderfully infectious."

Stone thinks that one of the perks of parenting is that when they're little, you can even laugh at your pranksters. Not just with them. "Children are only young once, and have limited time to act like juveniles and your laughter is often the sweetest gift you can give them. That changes as they get older so that's something to be mindful of. Laughing at your kids can also sometimes diffuse a situation but has to be done with a bit of flair so as not to offend them. And incredibly, laughing at your kids can also boost their self-esteem and sense of confidence. It can show that you appreciate their humor and actions, especially if they are being legitimately funny.

"At the end of the day, children can really love to see the cheerful effect they have on people, so there is no harm in giving in and having a laugh if it's appropriate," the mother added.

However, if you're going to laugh at your children, Stone believes you need to let them laugh at you too and not take yourself too seriously. "Laughter should be a two-way street. Find ways of making a joke out of bad situations but avoid adult humor because children really don't need this in their lives."

So at least kids can balance out their dark site with some lighter undertones!