It's easy to forget how difficult the concept of humor can be. What makes one thing funny and another thing not funny? Is it the material? The delivery? The personality of the person?
My four-year-old clearly doesn't quite grasp the concept of puns yet...although I'm trying my best.
We were drawing the other day and we made a house and some trees. She wanted to keep coloring the tree although it was pretty much complete. Harkening back to MY dad's own slightly dry sense of humor, I said,
"Why don't we LEAVE the tree alone. Get it? Leave? A tree has leaves?"
She seemed to get it and laughed. She has mastered the art of mimicing social laughter. Even if she doesn't know why it's funny, she knows that she should be laughing. This makes it hard to tell if she 'gets it' or not.
Well, the answer seems to be 'not'. The last week has been full of comments like,
"Daddy, I'm coloring with a crayon. Get it? A crayon?"
::crickets chirping::
"Ooooh!", I say, "a crayon....hahahaha!"
We can't damage her fragile ego as she pursues her first stand-up career, right?
"Look, Daddy! I have a booger! Get it? A booger?"
OK, well that one actually WAS pretty funny, but for all the wrong reasons.
"Look, Daddy! The baby has a poopy! Get it? A poopy?"
Yep, she's been on a roll this week. Before you know it, she'll be closing with,
"Thank you very much. You've been great. I'm here all week. Tip your waiter."
-----
On another note, our 7-month-old now has an astonishing vocabulary, consisting of:
"Hi" ("Haaaaaaaah")
"Dada" ("Dadadadadadada")
Her own name (this one comes out clear as a bell)
and....of course....
"Dora" (Dooooooo-ah)
Still no "anthropomorphism". Guess I'll have to settle for "plethora". :-)
Friday, April 04, 2008
Get It? Get It? I Don't Get It
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Just wait till she starts making up her own Knock Knock jokes!
Starting with the Dora mighty early there, aren't you? It's going to be a long ride at that pace!
Hi. Popping in on you from Flea's place.
Love this story! I have a 3.5 yr old boy and keep a 2.5 yr old boy for a friend 2 days/wk. The other day they were cracking eachother up repeating, "What are you TALKING about?", over and over to oneanother. Then they'd turn it to me and laugh even harder. Apparently I was the one who didn't get it. But watching them laugh was priceless. Enjoy your girls!
Ah yes, 4 year old humor.... Personally I love the knock, knock jokes. They are not funny, but at least they are interactive and I know when I am supposed to laugh.
Oh, I think she gets it. She's just playing you to see if YOU get it. :)
Post a Comment