Nobody does honesty quite like small children

If you're feeling too much like people are constantly telling you what you want to hear instead of actually telling you the truth and you're getting tired of it, well fear no more because I have the perfect solution to this. As adults we have learned how to behave in any number of social situations, what to say and the importance of tact but These are not things that come naturally. In fact I can readily think of a few people who still struggle with this. Because these are learned behaviours we go through our early years in life unencumbered by these  

Social constraints, loudly saying what enters our heads without a thought for others. Often much to the embarrassment of our parents. Just ask my mother, even now she still remembers the many times I just blurted out something terribly inappropriate.

So if you're looking for an honest opinion then all you need to do is find a small child and they will tell you the truth whether or not you are ready to hear it. now as well as being a part time auntie to 

Three young ladies ( and a fully grown nephew) and a full time purveyor of books to many small children, I have worked around children for many years. In case you are curious, my credentials include many years of babysitting;, a year as an au pair; a year as a childminder and work experience in a youth centre and special school. So there, I know what I am talking about. As well as having been a very blunt child myself, I have had many opportunities to hear some harsh truths myself. Recently after one of these moments I said ' Laura your uppance has come' because what better revenge can a girl get for telling one of her mums friends she has a moustache ( for the record she did and not just that line of dark hair around her lip but a full on man-tache. So maybe she needed to be told. Just saying ) ,when I was small, was to have a small child say it to me ( yes I have that darkish hair above my lip that many brunettes are cursed with and I'm more than a little paranoid about it so even though it can only be seen up close I do usually bleach it. ) sometimes such honesty can be refreshing but this was not one of those times. I'm sure anyone Who has a small child can probably identify because everyone has at least one story about their child loudly exclaiming something in public like what's wrong with that mans face?, is that a man or a lady?, what's that smell? And so on, and found themselves cringing and wanting to abandon their shopping and maybe their kids in the rush to get out of there.

But It's not all bad, at least with children you know where you stand and when they tell you that was a really good story or that they had a lot of fun with you at least you know they meant it. And you know that when you go home they are not saying something different to their parents. When you survive your teenage years ,and somewhat successfully become an adult,  you realise that most people have mastered tact to the the extent that no one really says what they mean And sometimes you don't really know where you stand. Now I know I'm more upfront than most people and not everybody likes that. I think however that we could all stand to learn a little from children. Lets be more honest, by that I don't mean loudly exclaiming in public 'why does that man have earrings, is it because he's a lady man ?' But to inject a bit more sincerity into what you say instead of flinging false compliments around.