Funny stuff

One of my goals as a mom is to teach my kids how to have a sense of humor.  We all know those people who have not a humorous bone in their body (humorous, not humerus...get it?  Ha!).

It's a gift to be able to laugh at yourself and the many things life throws at you.  Without a sense of humor, we are bound to be lost in a sea of seriousness.  I can't stand the sound of that.

Recently, Elijah spent the day with a newer friend and his family.  When I picked him up, the mom told me she never realized how funny Elijah was.  Apparently he had them in stitches all day long, with one funny joke or response after another.  Sometimes adolescent boy-humor is hard to understand, but I have to agree with her; he is a funny kid.  Not afraid to be silly, even in public with his whole family (and a mom with her camera!).

Gabe is still learning the humor thing.  He's five, so you know anything with the word "fart" or "turd" or "wiener" is absolutely hilarious.  He loves to tell jokes, but the punchline often doesn't make any sense...no matter, he still laughs like a hyena, which makes us laugh, which makes him think his joke really is funny.

(And yes, that really is E.T.  We still have our lifesize doll, which Gabe insists on taking everywhere with us every so often.  Today was an "E.T. Day".  Love it!)

Although Isabel hates being teased (don't we all??) and gets offended easily if the joke's on her (we're still working on the gift of laughing at yourself), she does have a good sense of humor.  She's the one who noticed the irony of this sign:

Isn't that field of charred black dirt simply gorgeous?

What about you?  Do you have a good sense of humor?  Were you the class clown?  Or the proverbial stick-in-the-mud?  When's the last time you had a good belly laugh at your own expense?