Why do we like to retell the same stories over and over?

Have you been in a social setting with family or long-time friends and something comes up that reminds your mother or someone to retell a story of when you were little?  It’s a story you’ve heard countless times.  It’s questionable that there’s even anyone in the group that hasn’t heard this story before.  But the teller tells the story with delight, enjoying mentally reliving the experience.

What is that makes the retelling enjoyable?  I too like telling certain stories.   The stories could be something outrageous that happened or something that was terrible at the time but is now funny or even a story that was just an interesting event in a time past.   When a conversation is going on among people, there’s an urge people get to participate by telling a story of something relevant that they’ve either experienced or heard about. 

So I don’t have any answers here, it’s just something I’ve noticed.  I’m sure there are books written by psychologists that explain in detail what it is that drives us to share a memory or contribute with something interesting or compelling.  

The Big Boy Update:  He is doing so well at playing by himself.  You can put him in a room with toys and he’ll spend lots of time entertaining himself.  Lately, I’ve been going through everything in his room to sort and identify what I can give to a friend who’s pregnant.  He’ll play in his room and bring interesting things over to share from time to time.  I’m glad he’s independent enough to not need help in finding fun.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She’s different than her brother in many ways.  One way we’ve noticed recently is that she likes being on her tummy and lifting her head up for much longer than he did.  When you hold her and try to burp her, she’s more interested in holding her head up than lying on your shoulder.  But she has very little interest in standing up or pressing back with her feet when you hold her upright on your lap.  That was my son’s thing, she doesn’t seem to care about standing up, only looking around.