Frederick

I love to laugh with my family. We often tell jokes, read funny books, or tickle each other.

One of our favorite family activities is watching “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” We all realize that the show is cheesy and somewhat outdated, but watching these videos keep us laughing together.

We also enjoy playing funny games of charades. I’m always amazed by my children’s creativity as they act out the clue. Sometimes we fail to guess the clue because we are laughing too hard.

Although we spend a lot of time creating funny moments, our funniest memories occur spontaneously.

Our favorite memory occurred a few years ago during the holiday season. My wife wanted a silver and blue theme for the Christmas tree so she bought some lovely glass ornaments. We laid the ornaments on the table and developed an efficient decorating assembly line. My wife placed the hooks on the ornaments, the kids carried them to me, and I hung them on the tree.

My 4-year-old son was so happy that everyone had their own tasks, that he had to label each one. 

“Daddy is the hanger,” he said. 

“Sis and I are the carriers and Mommy is the hooker.” My wife and I immediately looked at each other with horror.

“Son, let’s try another name for Mommy,” I said. “Hooker is not a good name.”

“Why not?” asked my daughter. “What’s wrong with hooker?”

“It’s not nice to call a woman a hooker,” she explained. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

We still laugh about this incident frequently.

It’s fun to watch my children develop their own senses of humor.

My 8-year old son (of the aforementioned “Hooker” story), considers himself to be comedian. He likes to make silly faces and make up jokes. Unfortunately, he’s not the best comedy writer and his jokes often fall flat. However, we always end up cracking up because his jokes are so bad.

My 10-year-old daughter has more of a deadpan sense of humor. Sometimes she’ll say something that is absolutely hilarious and she won’t even realize how funny it was until she sees my wife and I cracking up.

My 4-year-old son, likes to make his brother laugh with his vast repertoire of potty humor. I never realized how funny the words “underwear” and “poop” could be.

My wife and I also like to spend some time laughing with each other. We’ve made a promise to each other to find something to laugh about each day. We believe that it brings us closer and makes our relationship stronger.

I encourage all families to spend time laughing together. Even if you’ve had a horrible day, things will immediately improve when you hear your family’s chuckles.

For more musings from Frederick, visit www.mochadad.com/.