Family Funnies: Probably Only Make Us Laugh (12/23)

December 23rd

Family Funnies: The holidays are so often a time for family. Writing about family can be difficult, but that’s not the point here. What experience with your family made you laugh this year? Why was it so funny?

This is a good question! I picked it, and I should have had an idea of an answer when I created the question, but I don't.

Usually, there is some sort of peculiar situation involving my parents and I where one of us gets lost or has a strange realization and nothing in particular stands out. 

What I do remember is loud bellows of laughter. 

Me, left. Mom (peering). Dad (took picture). Friend (also pictured)

• In January, my parents joined me and a girl friend on a trip to Hawaii. They kept their distance, but one night they appeared out of the blue at the same restaurant - after we found out someone had "covered our tab." Then, I caught my Mom peering through these potted plants. We all laughed, for a while.

• Sometimes, my Mom and I get giddy and do a dance we call the "Ha-Cha!" We dance side-to-side, a hop to the left, a hop to the right, back and forth a couple times, all while saying, "Ha cha! Ha cha! Ha cha!" It started when I was about 15 years old, and has become a ritualistic greeting - of evening parting - of ways. My Mom and I laugh giddily, and so does my Dad.

• And, every once in a while, at the dinner table, since I can remember, my Dad will get a look of boyish mischievousness on his face and I know he's stuck his napkin in his mouth. Why? I have no idea. It annoys me and makes me laugh at the same time.

Isn't it true that our "family funnies" are what make us who we are in our family unit? Our funnies are so often not even existent in the unit of another family.