Is there anything more beautiful than hearing your child laugh? My favorite is when the boys start giggling about something and let me in on the joke. Ooooh, or if I make a joke and they get it. I love that too.
Sometimes I listen to them talking when they’re not aware of me, and smile along with them when they tell each other stories and start one-upping the endings until the craziness of it all consumes them and the collapse on the floor laughing hysterically.
Lately we’ve been trying to use more humor with the boys… there’s been enough stress for the parental units around here that we found ourselves frowning and losing patience too much.
Captain Earthquake, who is 5, tends to believe that if a person is unhappy about something he should remain unhappy about said issue for an appropriate length of time. Unfortunately for him, his sense of humor is developing well, and both Hubby and I have been able to tease him into laughter recently. Yesterday he started whining about some offense or other and showed up to share the “joy” with me. When I started suggesting that he whine louder he didn’t know what to make of it. So I grabbed him in a big hug and started coaching him on how to throw a Grade A Tantrum.
I knew I had him when he had to cover his mouth to hide the smile. The more suggestions I made, the more the giggles started sneaking out from between his lips. When I mentioned what a great effect he could have if he threw himself on the floor and held his breath, he lost it completely and laughed long and loud. (Fortunately for me, he’s never seen anyone put that much effort into a fit so he thought I was kidding.)
Another favorite is the laughter around the lunch table. One of the things I’ve worried about (in home schooling) is them missing out on the lunchtimes with friends. Not to worry, the kids are okay. As I write, they’re eating orange slices and finding extreme hilarity in various ways of consuming the fruit. Reactions to a sour bit are worth wild laughter from all brothers, especially the 5 year olds.
So what makes your kids laugh? Got a good giggle story for us? Leave a comment and share the joy with the group!
by AmyL
[tags]kids, children, parents, parenting, laughter, giggles, smiles, jokes, laughing, funny, joy, love[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by a4gpa, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
4 responses so far ↓
nan // Dec 22, 2007 at 10:28 am
We do plenty of laughing too. The boys love it if they are cracking up and I say sternly, “STOP having fun this instant! I will not tolerate any happiness!” they laugh even more, and I keep up the boot-camp thing till they are rolling on the floor. Sometimes they try to make a straight face, and I say “I see a smile. Aha! How DARE you?!”
We are definitely weird.
Ginger // Dec 23, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I have to agree with you that there is nothing more beautiful than the sound of your child laughing. (Singing is a close second though!) I was reminded by a dear friend of mine a few years ago how well humor works on kids who are whining, sulking, or pushing the limits (or your buttons). In fact, when she heard how I’d been handling it she said, “Ginger, you use humor with everyone and everything — why aren’t you using it with your son?” I said, quite eloquently, “Duh. I dunno. Thanks for reminding me.” Now when my son asks for pizza and hamburgers for dinner, I smile and say, “Nice try. Way to go for it.” When I get back talk I say, “Could I have a little more attitude with that, please” Just a one-liner to remind me I don’t have to get angry; after all, he’s just being a kid — they’re supposed to push hard, right? Anyway, thanks for the stories and the reminder that laughter is the soundtrack to our lives. (P.S. I’ve written a post called Snow Day that you might like — it’s more like slapstick than humor, but hopefully it will make you smile — you, too, Nan!)
AmyL // Dec 23, 2007 at 9:57 pm
@Nan - we do that too! One of the gifts that The Manager got yesterday was a remote microphone so he spent the morning sneaking up on us and trying to listen in on conversations. Of course, we started talking about him so he could hear us. After he got bored with various compliments we went quiet for a while. Then I suddenly suggested that he needed a spanking. That’s when we heard hysterical giggles and he came stomping down to inform us “I can HEAR YOU”. To which we said “WE KNOW, SILLY!” We’re weird too.
@Ginger: heading over to read your post now. Can’t wait!
AmyL // Dec 23, 2007 at 10:08 pm
@Ginger: Boo hoo! I can’t find it! Can you post the link here?
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