Little Ted said... 5 minute stories for under 5s

Little Ted asks... what is love?

July 24, 2021 Moyra Harvey
Little Ted said... 5 minute stories for under 5s
Little Ted asks... what is love?
Show Notes Transcript

Little Ted wants to know why we say "Love you" and what love means. His Mummy does her best to explain what is love.

 “Bye then, love you” called Little Ted’s Mummy as they left his Granny’s house.

Little Ted gave his Granny and Grandpa a final wave and got into the car. 

“What is love?” Little Ted asked after they had set off. “You said “Love you” as we left but I’m not really sure what that means.”

“Love is when you care very deeply about someone or something. It means they’re special to you and you want the best for them. So that’s why we say Love you when we say goodbye or goodnight because it’s good to tell people we care about them.”

Little Ted mulled this over. “So do you only love people who are in your family?”

His Mummy took a deep breath… “Not just them Little Ted, although family will always be extra special. You can love lots of things – you might say that you love football, when what you actually mean is you really enjoy playing football. Or I’m sure you would say that you love Fluffy who you’ve had since you were a baby, but at the end of the day he’s a soft toy, so it’s more a companion type of love rather than a two way thing.“

His Mummy paused to allow Little Ted to think this through. 

“I’m sure Fluffy loves me back. He just can’t speak” Little Ted replied then added “I know something else I love – ice cream. Can I have some when we get home?”

“Ice cream is a very good example of something you like, a lot, that shows there are different types of love. I don’t think you love ice cream more than you love your Daddy, but you do like it a lot more than broccoli. And because you like it so much, it makes you feel good which in turn makes you happy when you eat it.”

“So can I have some when we get home?”

“Yes, Little Ted.”

His Mummy switched on the radio and soon a song came on all about love. 

“Listen” Little Ted said “they’re singing about love on the radio.”

“Oh there are lots of songs about love” replied his Mummy “falling in love, being in love, losing the person you love, in fact I think it’s probably the most popular subject for a song. You could say that love is what keeps us together and makes the world go round.“

“What does that mean?” Little Ted asked.

“It means that at the end of the day, love is more important than money or power or possessions and life is more pleasant when people treat each other lovingly. “

Little Ted listened to the radio the rest of the way home and his Mummy was right, there were lots of songs about love. Later that evening, after tea (with ice cream for desert), a bath and once he was tucked up in bed, his Daddy came to say goodnight.

“Night night Little Ted, love you.”

“Love you” replied Little Ted and then he quietly repeated this to Fluffy “love you too”.

The End