Golden Rules Of Humor

Growing up has becoming too serious. I�d love to see more Moms and Dads sharing a chuckle with their children and kids belly-laughing with each other.

Increasingly, parents feel burdened by responsibility and guilt. They spend millions of dollars on books that tell them how to raise competent and intelligent youngsters. Yet they approach the task of rearing their offspring as if they were attending a funeral.

It seems being young has become more of a prison sentence than a phase of life.

I know life isn�t a bed of roses, and that sometimes we just don�t feel like laughing. But the times when life becomes miserable are actually the times we need humor the most.

Parents, enjoy your children, allow yourselves to revel in their honesty, innocence and youth. Don�t die of embarrassment when your toddler puts her finger in her nose while you�re showing her to the relatives. All toddlers do it. Chortle at her delightful lack of self consciousness, and then give her a big-warm hug.

And don�t tear your hair out when your son and all his friends run through the house leaving every door open in their wake. Sure, set some guidelines for their behavior, then laugh at their boyish energy and them back outside, even the normally serious task of discipline can be done in a light-hearted manner.

One morning I snapped at my two sons for wrestling in the kitchen. As I stood nearby, watching them stare morosely into their cereal bowls, I proclaimed loud and clear, �Boy, Mom sure is crabby this morning.� They burst into laughter. They had gotten the message that the kitchen wasn�t playground; there was no sense in their continuing to feel miserable.

Keep in mind the Golden Rule of humor: a joke or statement has to be funny to every one involved. If someone isn�t laughing, then their feeling need to be respected and that topic kept off limits.

Never laugh at a child. A youngster�s mistakes or lack of knowledge may indeed seem humorous at times. But the damage ill-timed laughter may cause to tiny egos is never worth the few moments of adult hilarity.