My husband knows a lot of parents of babies and toddlers.
Since our television is his monitor, I often can’t help but see his Facebook feed.
This morning, it was a video of his buddy holding a baby, and the older kid wobbling and prat falling to induce laughter.
I didn’t see what was funny about it. The guy was laughing uncontrollably, but I didn’t even want to crack a smile , and my husband said, ‘Thanks for making me waste two minutes of my day.’ to the screen. Yeah, we’re heartless monsters that way.
The video got a lot of comments from people calling it “hilarious” and I really, really don’t understand. I have no maternal instinct, so maybe that’s it. I just hear people saying things their kids say as if its comedy gold, and I’m left scratching my head.
Yes. Not everything a baby or a kid does is funny, like parents think so. But some of the things kids do are certainly funny. There are videos of kids cracking up when they tear a paper, and they laugh so hard they almost fall over. I think that’s hilarious and I laugh along with them. They’re so natural.
And while I probably would make a good mother, I don’t want any of my own. It’s just, sometimes you can’t help but laugh at the little rugrats.
Oh I love Charlie Bit Me. “Charlie bit me! And it really hurt, Charlie!” It’s their accents that do it, and the fact that he never pulls away from Charlie, not even when it clearly hurts, and the chortle from little fat Charlie at the end.
The reason so many siblings are born 3-4 years apart, is that at 2 1/2 they start doing the cutest, most adorable things.
Rather than remember the hell that is -6 to 18 months, parents think “This is great! We need to have another one right away!” That they then follow through with that plan is proof that, even after 3 years, they still suffer from extreme sleep deficit that inhibits their mental faculty.
Many, many people label all kinds of things as hilarious that aren’t. The larger the print, amount of hilarious synonyms and exclamation points used, is inversely proportional to the actual degree of humor.
I’m right there with you, Nerdessence. I have NO maternal instinct toward children at all, and rarely see humor in anything they do. (Puppies, kittens, foals, baby wombats etc… Could watch 'em all day!!)
A friend of mine who, thankfully, lives several states away has about 1500 grandkids. OK, it’s only 8, but FEELS like so many more. She is constantly trying to force them on my on the phone, and telling me every litle ‘adorable’ thing they did. “Awwwww, little Jerrard just went poopy and then reached in the potty and used it to fingerpaint! Isn’t that CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE???”
No… no it isn’t.
Frylock - No and no. I barely got through either of those without wanting to smack the kids.
PapSett - RIGHT ON!
My husband and I were discussing it on our drive home, and I think I figured it out.
You can’t deconstruct the things these kids do. There’s no real cause and effect.
It’s a baby laughing. Where’s the punchline? I guess if you like the sound, I could see you finding it charming, the way I find kittens mewling charming. It’s a tiny sound. My brain reacts to it. But baby noises? PURE. RAGE.
And that doesn’t explain why it’s funny.
I think you just have to be a parent, or at least like kids. I just always feel weirded out in the office when the baby stories command such admiration and laughter.
But someone talks about a cute cat story, I go to pieces.
Mr. Nerdessence says my maternal instinct somehow got rewired to kittens, not babies.
I have no children and no pets. But I generally find videos of babies and animals amusing. I think it’s the lack of pretense. A baby or an animal isn’t going to fake what it’s feeling - what you’re seeing is what they’re genuinely feeling.
