Actually, it really is a laughing matter

The incredulous look on his face was pretty priceless. It was the morning of our Primary's Christmas activity, and several of us were at practicing for the puppet show we were going to put on for the kids. The script was a silly, cute one located somewhere on the far reaches of the internet. In it, animals in a stable find a small "intruder" lying in manger and try to figure who he is and what in the world he is doing there. One of our actors, a guy for whom English is a second language, was playing a camel with a Marxist streak. Anyway, the camel is supposed to soothe the intruder. "You want me to say what?!?" "Cootchie cootchie coo." Yeah, it's pretty absurd, but I'm sure there's an equivalent in his native language. After all, I've found that children turn even the most serious of adults into balls of silliness.

I have first hand evidence. Not that I would consider myself the most serious of people, but I do tend to have a shy streak in public. My hubby draws out the part of me that will make absurd noises and even give an encore performance, but it has taken our daughter to send us over the edge.

R first laughed in the middle of February, and we have since spent our time with her trying to elicit those wonderful sounds. We pop out from behind furniture, beeping, honking, and something akin to a bleat may have escaped, too. But one of her early favorites has been us singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Apparently I have no sense of humor because I had missed its hilarity all these years. R pointed it out.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes." Giggle
"Knees and toes." Giggle
"Knees and toes." Snicker
"Head, shoulders, knees and toes." Guffaw
"Eyes, ears, mouth and nose!"

It does seem that the punch line of the joke is somewhere between the knees and the toes because that is where she gets the most giddy. My husband tries to milk it for all it is worth. Up and down he goes over and over again. Sometimes it feels like listening to a broken record. "Knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes..." Do you know what it is like listening to that? The anticipation of the "eyes, ears, mouth and nose" is enough to kill you; what a relief when it finally comes.

I can only imagine what it looks like to others in public. Yes, I have sung a solo of that masterful song in public, trying to get that giggle to come. Of course she only smiled at me that time, perhaps a smile to her self about what a ridiculous mom she has. Oh well. I've resigned myself to years (especially if more wee ones come our way in the future) of singing, babbling, snorting and making other sundry sounds in public. If it makes her happy, a few funny looks is worth it.