This morning Emma and I read a book we'd gotten from the library called Scary Mary by Paula Bowles. It's the story of a hen who rules the barnyard and has no friends. At one point Scary Mary practices her scary faces and the pictures were so silly that I laughed out loud. Emma loves it when I laugh and she joined me.
When I saw that illustration I made a split second decision, to laugh or just let it go. Too often I let those opportunities to laugh slip by me. Children welcome every opportunity to laugh. They don't seem to think about it at all. It just spills from them.
Humor has so much to do with the unexpected. When something appears differently than we expected, when there is the clever play on words or an idea presented in a way we'd never thought of it draws laughter from us. I wonder if my being slow to laugh is because I'm not surprised by things like a child is. I don't share their delights; I've seen it all before.
Lately, I've really been trying to share laughter more often with my children. They love to laugh and to make others laugh. I try to laugh at their antics and see the humor in what tickles them. I may not be the laughingest mom yet, but I hope I'm getting there a giggle, a chuckle and a tickle along the way.
