ME, MY BOYS AND HUMOR

I am not one of those parents with a million rules, but there is one thing I insisted on: The first thing my kids should see when they wake up is a smile. For good measure after naps, I usually jump up and down when I walked into their room to show how excited I am to see them; this is clearly one of those things you can do in the privacy of your own home and those little eyes looking at you will think your awsum and not crazy! “Wakey Wakey hands off Snakey!!” — like a victory dance in an undeclared war against sleep.

Early on in this rollercoaster ride of raising kids,(mine are 20 and 23) it struck me that among the many, many, responsibilities of being a parent — turns out there’s more to it than napping — was my need to make sure that my children learned what’s funny! Even if it turns out that they just have to be a doctor or must be a lawyer, I want them to be the funniest ones they can be. Seriously: learning what’s funny — not just how to make people laugh, but how to view oneself with humor — I felt would help them grow into the wonderfully engaged human beings we hope they’ll become. Also, appreciating comedy seemed like a tangible skill I could teach them myself, between the lessons about not eating rocks or sticking things in electrical outlets.

I started thinking more seriously about the funny. How could I assemble the “rules” of comedy for them?? Early on I knew both my boys had a keen sense of humor along with timing........timing is key to being funny!


I started simply, with laughing lessons. Boy did they have laughs`! Every week my oldest had a different laugh. from Pee Wee Herman to Bart Simpson to Movie Stars and eventually family members and neighbors which had to be an inside joke as not to hurt peoples feelings!!

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…


Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee…

Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi…

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho…

Huuu, huuu, huuu, huuu, huuu.”

Now combine all those together some how and that was their specialty laugh!
 I have no scientific facts to back this up, but I firmly believe my boys discovered laughing earlier than most because of their enviroment Or, maybe it’s because we were often  in my jammies just being us. And I cant leave the hubbie doing their crazy stuff.they grabbed oh his his legs as he rushed in the door to be attatcked by 2ltl ones wanting hugs and a ride on the back or walk on the shoes etcccc


             Then we moved on to facial comedy. The bug-eyes. The cross-eyes.The double-take. Even a little spit-take just to show them that grown-ups do it too, and with the right comic timing, it isn’t just disgusting. After every bit, I’d laugh, to show them you can laugh at all ages and at most things.



I admit that I like looking silly and stupid in front of my kids (and in front of your kids too, if they’re around). I only hope that by doing this, and by assuming the heavy responsibility of being their comedy mentor, I’ve started Morrris Boys on the road to a more joyful life. I’m trying to cover all the bases. Shortly after they were born, I made faces and strange noises to get their attention and response!:



“I am thankful for laughter except when milk comes out of my nose.”

- Woody Allen



“I’ll teach you to laugh at what’s funny!”

- Homer Simpson


The key is being open to improvisation. It’s not a full-time funfest at our house, but I try to focus on the laughter rather than the tears,complaints or howls.



What comes next, I’m not sure, but I feel confident that at least my children will know that the proper response to “I don’t know” is “Third base.”


Now that that are grown, the first thing everyone says is how ~funny~ my boys are....the only down-fall is its hard to tell when the oldest is serious! I will tell you this their teachers will never forget them and their wise answers or speeches! The coaches had a hard time with their humor, because theyd always put a positive spin on a bad game and they HATED that lol They wanted everyone to be pissed when they were pissed haha it didnt work with mine and in the end I actually believe they softened some of those old goats up lol

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