Comic Moments

My 3.5 years old has officially taken over the role of 'family clown'. 

The baton has been passed from the oldest (i.e. the papa) to the youngest over the years and now the succession is complete. Training must have taken place behind my back, since I have never witnessed any sessions of vigorous training of the boy. 

Comic Moment #1

The daddy called out to the boy, 'Hey, little prince..'. 

The boy exclaimed, 'I am NOT a prince! I am the SUPER PIG!'

(In his mind, a pig is the most superior creature since he loves Piggy Wiggy so much.)

Comic Moment #2

The little boy, 'I tell you a joke. Do you know what the fish is doing in the toilet? (Pause for effect) It is doing a FISH-POO!  Hahaha!'

Comic Moment #3

He walked out of the bathroom after his bath, stark naked. Came to me with a straight face and made eye contact. Then turned around slowly so his back faces me. Nothing moved for a second or two. Then I heard a small sound from his lips. He turned around 'That was my butt pretending to fart, Mummy!'  He laughed and ran away. 

When he tells a joke, he expects laughter from us. If we didn't, he would come and look us in the eyes 'Why didn't you laugh, Mummy?'. Undoubtedly, our approval and support reinforces his sense of humor, which is also motivated by his need to make us happy. 

A soap bubble beard!

Of course what we deem as comical is highly subjective. But with all kids, their innocence shines through their comic attempts. If we don't judge and just take their words and actions at face value and seeing their world through their lens, it becomes easy to appreciate their sense of humor.

We are also rather relaxed with the toilet humor at the moment. Most boys will go through a phase of enjoying toilet humor regardless of parental approval. So instead of forbidding them to make jokes or laugh about it, we might as well laugh with them till they outgrow the phase. 

But at Marcus' age, some lines have to be drawn in this respect, so he doesn't end up telling jokes all night on inappropriate content, in front of a bunch of jaw-dropping guests, however innocent his intent may be. He has a real wicked sense of humor, which he hones daily by his ravaging appetite for renowned comic strips. 

Telling his cousin a joke!

Well, when the father of my children is reputed among our social circle as the guy with an incredible sense of dry humor (certainly helped by the fact that he grew up in London!), which I have grown to adore tremendously, I don't expect anything less from the little ones. 

You can't teach a child how to tell a joke. But we certainly can influence them (somewhat) to gain a sense of humor.

The last thing I want is to raise a highly intelligent child who doesn't understand a laugh when he hears one.