Boy #1 has discovered jokes. Not filthy ones. Not wry ones. Not even - yet - funny ones. Just - jokes.
For example, on the way home from school today...
Boy #1: "Why did the seagull fly up in the... No, that's not right. You say it, mama."
Me: "Why did the seagull -"
Boy #1: "No! No! Not seagull! Seaweed! I said, seaweed!"
Me: "Are you sure? (heavy sigh from the back seat). OK, Why did the seagull - what?"
Boy #1: "What?"
Me: "What did the seagull do?"
Boy #1: "Oh. Why did the seaweed - seaweed, mama - fly up in the sky? You say it now."
Me: "Right. Why did the seaweed fly up in the sky?"
Boy #1: "Because it wanted to be an airplane, silly!"
Cue Boy #1 and Boy #2 laughing like drains in the back of the car.
And so it continued. Did you know that the cow jumped over the moon because it wanted to...? Or that the chicken crossed the road to be an astronaut?
After a while, these 'jokes' start to get quite funny. Really.
Or is that just hysteria setting in?
And soon there will be the knock knock jokes.
ReplyDeleteBoys: Knock Knock
You: Who's there?
Boys: Harry
You: Harry who?
Boys: Harry Purple Face (rolling about with laughter)
Ask me if I'm an orange.
ReplyDeleteAre you an orange?
No.
Oh I remember that moment.
ReplyDelete"Why did the head fall out of the tree?"
"To get to the bottom"
(cue rolling about laughing)
Ye, little children and their finely tuned sense of humor. It does get better, though. They do reach an age when they really do get funny and wry and you are on the floor laughing. Just hang in there, the time will come. I remember this from my son, who loved Monty Python films and was a great impersonator.
ReplyDeleteI've been there, not just with my two kids but also with my brother who is 10 years younger than me - his best was "Why did the elephant come in through the window? He was in the kitchen?" Huh?
ReplyDeletei thougth they were funny. but then i am bordering on the hysterical. x
ReplyDeleteOh - I'm glad I'm not the only one going through this ...
ReplyDeleteWhy did the elephant cross the road?
Do get to the jumper shop.
Hysterical laughter followed by a questioning look and then ...
Mummy you are not laughing enough!
I am now sat at work trying to perfect my false laughter.
Postmodern joke-telling, eh? They been doing Derrida at school?
ReplyDeleteI remember the orange joke! Glad to see it is still doing the rounds and still rubbish.
ReplyDeleteSo the Christmas crackers will be popular this year, non?
ReplyDeleteSo the Christmas crackers will be popular this year, non?
ReplyDeleteOk, let me be the one to give you a joke to pass on to your children (I have SO been through this same thing).
ReplyDeleteMy son's fav joke:
Two fish in a tank. One turns to the other and says 'can you drive this thing'.
Ok so it took AGES to explain it but now he knows it he tells it all the time.
And gross ALWAYS works
Why is the sand wet?
Because the seaweed.
Iota - I can't wait... No, really...
ReplyDeleteTracey - I'm sure I remember that one from my brother around 26 years ago
Jeanie - anything with the word bottom in it has to be a winner, of course!
Irene, we can make the Monty Python impersonations a family thing! Hurrah! (Bags I get to be M. Creosote... Or the Knights who say 'ni')
Hello Guider, thanks for the visit! And I'll remember the elephant for our next long car journey (when we've run out of I spy, the market game, etc etc)
RM - you and me both.
Laura, I guess we were just lucky to have escaped this for so long! This far into the school year though I suppose it was going to happen...
TD, Derrida? Uuummm (pause whilst PM tries desperately to remember who Derrida is - and can't). Probably. These Chelsea schools, they're SO advanced, you know...
Thames - thankyou for visiting and as for the christmas crackers - well, even those jokes will make more sense, so yes!
Tara, fabulous. Reminds my of nephew's favourite joke when he was the same age. 'How do you stop a rhino from charging? Take away it's credit card.' Boom boom! (And actually quite topical...)
My 13 year old's just told me the one about the two fish in a tank (Can you drive this thing?) too? It must be on the TV at the moment, or doing a worldwide tour? It is quite funny tho" Or am I just regressing?
ReplyDeleteJust don't start I Spy...you'll end up with stupide phrases like 'Frog in the Field'
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry about the spelling, I've been drinking too much wine while talking to Dulwich Mum!
I like Traceys' joke very much.
Ioat is ridiculous (but then we know that:D)
Jeanie tells a great joke, made me laugh out loud.
Sorry Laura, don't like that one (no offence).
Thames is very repetitive, I said Thames is very repetitive.
Tara, the first one is great, second one a bit , you know, a bit eugh!
OHMYGOD!! I'm commenting on your comments....so sorry! it's the wine...all I need now is Pig to start singing!!
Definitely hysteria setting in.
ReplyDeleteEPM, it IS funny. We ARE regressing. The two facts are not necessarily related...
ReplyDeleteFrog - haven't we been here before? What the hell - I seem to remember it worked out pretty funny last time, so be my guest.
Paradise, it's the credit crunch. Or the wine. Or both...
Oh. So this is what I have took forward to is it?
ReplyDeleteGreaaaat. I'll be ready...I hope.
I'm bust when it comes to remembering jokes and the following stuck because my very refined friend tells every time she gets drunk and then she laughs really hard. You could probably modify it for children.
ReplyDelete2 olives walk into a pub (restaurant) and sit down on stools. 1 olive falls off it's stool. The 2nd olive asks "are you okay?" The first olive says "ol'l live"