Born Funny

I am convinced that 99.9% of the population is born funny. Before my babies could talk they were making me laugh with their facial expressions and attempts to scoot, crawl and toddle around.

I think most of us are born with a deep desire to laugh, but misplace our attention somewhere along the way. We grow serious. We think about money, responsibilty, competition and getting ahead. Or we bury it under self-doubt thinking “what if I say that and no one laughs.” The most tragic, is the person who has lost the ability to see the absurdity of the world and chuckle. They have replaced their sense of humor with bitterness.

Clearly, the ability to laugh at oneself is a trait worth developing. I am getting really good at this one. I have to. It seems that the older I get the more frequently I slip, unknowingly into flakiness. What happened to wisdom with age? Last week I managed to smack myself in the face with a car door. I couldn’t laugh at that moment, as I was laying in the driveway wailing, but I laughed soon after. My husband laughed with me.

My 4 year-old is obsessed with knock knock jokes, she told the same joke over and over for weeks. We finally bought her a book that she has since memorized. She laughs in the face of authority, literally. She giggles when someone tries to boss her around, not in rebellion exactly, she just seems to think its amusing.

My 8 year-old prefers potty humor (which I don’t usually appreciate). “Wait ‘till your father gets home,” means "save it for Dad, please!." She also has a way with words. She said the following to her grandmother recently:

“So what if you’re old and don’t look as good as you used to. At least you don’t suck!”

My very cool mom loved this compliment of sorts and told everyone she knows.

Our littlest girl is amused by our pets, including feeding our dieting dog and dropping food onto her her head from the highchair. Her daily mission consists of chasing the cat in circles so she can proceed to yank her tail causing the poor kitty to meow. She clears bookshelves with one swipe of her little arm and squeals with delight at the sound of all the pots in the cabinet hitting the floor like rapid fire. Then she stops, raises her arms over her head and proclaims "I DI ATE! OOORAY!" (interpret: I DID IT! Hooray!) and claps with excitement.

Laugh and learn from silly, playful children. Entering their realm for just a few minutes everyday will lift your spirits. They'll love the company. Nurture your sense of humor and theirs, and if there aren’t any kids in your life to make you laugh on a daily basis, take a look at the young stand-up comedians in the videos above on the right.

There are a few, select people out there that are not funny, were never funny and never will be. If you bump into them on the street because you were so busy laughing that you didn’t notice them, be polite. Imagine how hard it is to be them.