Children and Humor

It occured to me recently that one of the greater joys I have of my children growing is to see their sense of humor develop.  It begins somewhere around 5 years old where they start to get a knack for the rhythm of a joke.  Here's one I recently heard from my youngest daughter (age 5):

Why did the horsey cross the road?

Because it wanted to play in the field.

Okay, its not funny.  But the delivery is there.  And yes, after just the right amount of sleep deprevation, my wife and I have been known to laugh histerically at jokes like this - much to the delight of the joke teller.

So fast forward about 10 years in humor development...my oldest is now 15 (OMG, almost 16!).  We are having a casual discussion with one of our church friends over cookies.  My wife and I realize that we will both be out of town overnight in a couple weeks.  In front of our friend and my oldest daughter we contemplate them staying overnight alone.

Me: <jokingly to daughter> Just make sure that if have to call 911 that you let them know that your parents are only gone for a few hours and that they would never leave you there all by yourself overnight.

Daughter: <holding hand as if it were a phone and putting it to her ear> Hello, 911?  My little brother won't let his sister have a turn playing Nintendo.  <covering mouth piece and speaking over shoulder> Nole, 911 says to go sit timeout!

Again sleep deprivation may have something to do with it, but my wife, myself, and my friend started laughing hysterically.  My daughter is pretty darn funny - at least in her father's eyes.

Then there was the recent story my 2nd oldest daughter told me the other day.

At school today one of the boys in my class (name withheld for obvious reasons) was looking at his feet with a rather concerned look on his face.

Boy: I have really tiny feet.

Girl sitting nearby:<teasingly> You know what that means...

Boy:<puzzled> I wear really tiny socks?

Of course, there is a larger moral issue here - namely, how is it that my 14 year old daughter understands the innuendo in the first place.  But I guess I have to go with the rather more optimistic side of the situation - namely that my daughter caused her dad to burst out laughing. 

This has been happening more and more lately. :-)

   -Matt