I just got around to looking through the huge pile of papers the kids brought home when they cleaned out their desks when school ended. In it I found a paper that my then third grader filled out about....me. It had a checklist of character traits such as cute, cuddly, sweet, etc. And I got high marks. My heart began to swell a little until I looked a little closer and saw one box that wasn't checked off...funny. The only empty box was funny.
I was sure he forgot.
I asked him about it. Thanking him first for the kind comments and then smiling I said "I see you forgot to check off funny."
"No I left it blank on purpose," was his reply.
Snorting my response, I said "Well, why?"
"Because I don't think you are particularly funny," he said.
Well, I'll be damned.
I think of myself in a certain way and yes, one of my fallbacks is funny. I wasn't the pretty girl in the room, my whole life I was the one telling the joke. I was the one making the funny faces, breakdancing at the prom (and my own wedding) and cracking jokes to help people laugh during uncomfortable life moments. I have never been afraid to be the punchline.
Now my own kid doesn't think I am funny?
I polled the other kids and the two that can talk in the house said that I am funny "sometimes."
Even my husband said "Yeah, I think you are funny...in your own way." What does that mean?
Maybe I am not particularly funny. Who am I?
Growing up I was a talker. The kid in class that teachers had to separate from people because of too much "socializing." My own brother compared me to John Candy in a classic scene from the movie "Planes, Trains & Automobiles." Steve Martin's character says that Candy's character is like a Chatty Cathy doll who pulls his own string and won't stop talking.
At first I was offended, but then I just embraced it. And I have to admit I have always loved John Candy. "Uncle Buck." "Spaceballs." Funny stuff. So I was okay with the comparison.
But lately I have felt more like the cranky Steve Martin character. Maybe that is why my kids don't think I am so funny.
It is a tough to figure out how to be the rule maker in the house and also be liked. As my kids get older, I find it exhausting to always be molding them and teaching them. I want to be the goofy character who is funny and lovable, and never saying no.
Then I look back at the list Peyton made in school. He checked off a lot of other things like brilliant, brave, kind, thoughtful. And I now know he put a lot of thought into the list.
I would rather my kids think I am brilliant and brave over funny. That damn big picture thing again.
And maybe I can try to be somewhere in between the Steve Martin and John Candy characters.
Bonus fabulous clip from one of the best movies ever, Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
The "Well, I'll be damned" line in your post made me laugh out loud...so I would definitely check off the funny box if I were taking the poll! I think it must be a Mom via child's eye thing. :)
ReplyDeleteFrom your neighbor who thinks she is very funny herself (even if I'm the only one laughing!).
I think you are hilarious!
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