Funny | Tara Edelschick

Tonight at Vacation Bible School, we were talking about paradise. As an intro to the topic, I asked kids to list some things that they love right here on Earth. Kids named chocolate ice cream, their mothers, sports, and the like. Finally, I called on Zach. “What do you love, Zach?”

“Caca.”

He laughed. I did not. Instead, I was embarrassed and sent him out of the room. He didn’t flip off one of the volunteers or wave gang signals during the worship songs, as another youngster from the neighborhood did. Still, I was not happy.

When I went out to talk to him about what happened, he was crying. “Mom, I was just making a joke.”

“Two problems with that, buddy. One, it’s not okay to make jokes like that, especially when someone is teaching about something important. I worked hard to prepare that lesson, and your joke was disrespectful to me.”

“I’m sorry. What’s the second problem?”

“Your joke wasn’t funny. No one laughed. Just saying potty words is not funny. I know you want to be funny, honey, but this is not the way. And besides, being funny isn’t important. Being kind and respectful and being a good leader is.”

He apologized and we went on with the night. But we keep coming back to this: he wants to be funny and nearly all of his attempts fail. Can humor be taught?

I’ll end with two things that made me chuckle today, neither of which contains any potty words.

The first was posted on a homeschooling listserve:

Q: How does a home schooler change a light bulb?

A: First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they’ll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill. On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill. Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. And there is light.

It’s would be funnier if it weren’t so dead on. Remember the post about ruining every great idea by turning it into an all-encompassing project?

The second chuckle came from this picture:

Women’s Ear Pull Final at the 50th World Eskimo Indian Olympics

It has nothing to do with homeschool. Except that I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that at least one of those women was homeschooled. Perhaps because she was using too much vulgar trash talk in grade school, and her mom had to pull her out. Or maybe when they were doing a project on echolocation, they started studying how the different shapes of animal ears effect sound waves, and next thing you know you’re an ear pulling champion.

I’m just sayin’.