I have learned much in the past few years about the humor of 3-5 year olds. It is often not at all funny to an adult and it doesn’t even have to make sense to be funny. My children can get each other into that really giggly state telling jokes to each other like:
“What kind of dog like to cross the road?”
Answer: “Buddabayba” (or some other nonsense word).
Lately, however their humor has become more sophisticated and they like to hear jokes from other people. Unfortunately, the joke often gets lost in translation. For example, last night our dear friend, Kathryn, came over and stayed with the kids for a while. She told them the following joke:
Why to cows wear bells?
Answer: Because their horns don’t work.
Jane’s response to that was, “I know their horns don’t make noise.”
She had to have it explained to her what was funny.
What is amusing to a mother is when they try to retell jokes that adults think are funny. Tonight Jane told a joke that had her brothers rolling with laughter. Here it is:
Why don’t cow’s horns work?
Answer: Because no sound comes out of them. They have to wear bells!
