When I was little my Mum used to say to me (wise old woman that she is):

“little pitchers have big ears.”

Which totally confused me, because I thought she was talking about paintings on the wall. Therefore I assumed she had completely lost the plot.

Thinking about it, this same ‘wise woman’ used to say (if she suspected it was a going to be a nice day):

“there’s enough blue (sky) to make a Dutchman a pair of trousers”

So she clearly isn’t right in the head…

Anyway, her first expression came to my mind this week when taking my daughter out for a walk with a friend.

My little girl, like most three year olds, likes to point out everything in passing and asking what it is. This could be anything from a buttercup to a discarded TV aerial (yes, we passed one today)

It just so happened that on this day, we passed a large Victorian building that is currently being used as some kind of detention centre.

My daughter stared at the couple of young men leaning lazily smoking against the doorway and asked loudly “What is that place for?”

“It’s like a very big school.” I answered quickly.

“For those big men?” She asked pointing.

“Erm…yes…” I sort of tugged her away and then whispered at my friend “at least they thought they were big – silly bastards.”

“Are they a bastard?” Came her little voice, suddenly not so little. And her finger was still pointing.

I didn’t dare look as I dragged her away.

So yes, little pitchers do indeed have very big ears.

And loud mouth mummies have very red cheeks.