Kids Love to Joke
I recall how joking as a kid became something I could use to make friends.
When I was a kid, we used to joke around at the table because my father loved to pun. He was the first person in my life that made me aware a word could have two meanings and it could also be funny. As a kid who tended to be a bit shy, I appreciated any knowledge about how to make others like me.
This knowledge was invaluable. I became very good at it and our meal times were full of added fuel to keep the fun going. It was a contest, to see who could manage to out maneuver the other. My two brothers also had expertise in this silly pastime. Mom, on the other time, just smiled and appreciated the game.
It always surprised me that my dad had such an interesting sense of fun because he was usually rather serious in that he did not always say a lot. When he did though, we were expected to listen. This sense of fun also happened when we had Christmas gifts because he was a big kid inside and liked to play with our gifts.
I never got to tell him how this looking for the funny side of things helped me in my personal life. As a sensitive kid, I needed the security of knowing I could be accepted by other kids since my intuition told me they were just as afraid as I was. I needed an icebreaker and this always worked for me.