Kids and Humor

It's a great thing to get a little kid to really belly laugh. It's so contagious...and they can keep it up indefinitely. Bitty Bantam (14 months) was "bothering" me just now as I was trying to type. He kept handing me a toy, then taking it back, dropping it, picking it up, handing it back to me, and repeating the cycle. Then he handed me a plastic bowl, and--trying to play with him without giving him my full attention--I put it on his head. He laughed, so I did it again. He laughed harder, and then I recalled a never-fail baby belly-laugh-getter--I put it on my head, tipped my head forward, and let it slide off into my hands. He cracked up so hard he couldn't remain standing.

So of course I did it again and again, until I realized he was way overdue for a nap, plus I was running out of time to finish what I was doing. So I scooped him up and made a pit stop in the kitchen for a wet paper towel to dab at the crusties under his nose, an activity usually guaranteed to bring irritated wails. But not today. He was still giggling from the bowl trick, so he decided he could be amused at the first dab. That made me chuckle, so we proceeded to chuckle and giggle our way through the whole snot-removal process--and he went to bed without a protest and with a smile on his face.

That reminded me of the time that my two middle boys were getting shots at the doctor, and they both were so nervous they gave each other a case of the uncontrolled giggles that not even the puncture of the needle could stop. Oh, they whooped a little at that, but just kept right on laughing, even through the second jabs. The nurse said she'd never seen anything like it.

Oh, the power of humor, especially with kids! Why don't I harness it more often??