It’s funny isn’t it, how one minute you’re a daft student, drinking shots in a bar with sticky floors or sitting at the back of a lecture giggling with friends about some private joke…. and the next minute, you’re a GROWN UP with KIDS.
Let’s ignore the fact that I have no idea how this happens so quickly and focus on one thing: has anyone else mastered the art of keeping a straight face to their kids when they really want to fall about laughing? I haven’t.
I’m supposed to be a mature, responsible adult, but sometimes I end up sniggering away like a student who finds the word ‘flange’ amusing. (True story: one of my Uni mates and I used to see who could say the grossest word. It freaked him out that I often won.)
Just yesterday, my four year old (who likes to make up words and swap letters around – so she might say “Dummy and Maddy” instead of “Mummy and Daddy” just to be silly) blurted out:
“Mucka mucka! Fuckafuckalucka”
I burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing Mummy?”
“No reason – you’re just being a silly billy. Come on! Let’s go!”
Phew – totally got out of that one.
But it’s not just her accidentally saying rude words that make me laugh. The other night, she was in the bath and splashed so hard, the whole of the bathroom floor got soaked. Mr P was NOT happy. He got the stern parent act down like a boss. Me, on the other hand, I got the giggles and had to leave the room before the four-year-old saw me.
So, come on, any parents with older kids who are reading this – what are your tricks? How do you keep a straight face when you need to?
• This post is part of the Bad Mums’ Club – a series of posts by bloggers on our ‘failings’ as mums. Of course, we know we’re not really bad parents, but sometimes it’s good for the soul to confess a little and share the not-so-perfect side of parenting. If you’re a blogger and have a post like this, link it up below and we’ll come read your post. If you’re not a blogger, you can access all of this month’s Bad Mums’ Club posts below and have a nice little read. Don’t forget to visit Morgana, Aimee and Katie to read their Bad Mums’ Club posts!
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haha! I also laugh when I’m telling them off. I can’t help it, sometimes because I’m telling them off for silly things, and sometimes because their sulky face is hilarious.
Perhaps that’s why I can’t control them?!
I really struggle with this one! Noo used to have the most hilarious drama queen tantrums, I remember her wailing “That’s it mummy, you have broken my heart, you’ve cracked it in two!!” because I wouldn’t let her keep her megablocks in her bed overnight. I had to go out of the room and let her daddy deal with it because I couldn’t stop laughing! 😉 x
Totally not alone i am always doing this!! Kids sound hilarious when the inadvertently swear 🙂 I knew of someones 2 yr old who called Makka Pakka – Fukka Fukka which i loved! x
I have older girls, and have no advice, except do just what you are doing – laugh and write it down. You soon forget all the lovely, funny (and often rude) things your children say. What does get easier is telling them off. When they are older, you can play the embarrassment card:
“Next time your friends are around, I will sing and I will dance, and I will call them Darling”
Sorted!
Sally Page
My 21 month old is a very good talker. It makes me super proud that she has such a good vocabulary for her age but also incredibly cautious. The other day I wasn’t quite cautious enough when I said ‘holy shitballs’ without thinking. She spent the rest of the day walking around saying ‘shitballs, shitballs, shitballs’! It was so incredibly hard not to laugh!
I am crap. SO CRAP AT THIS! I am worse when teaching. Sometimes the kids do such naughty things. But I can’t help but laugh. Once a year 11. Crept to the front of the room. Pulled down the clock. Unscrewed it. Drew a penis on it. And put it back up. No-one noticed. Not even the teacher (which wasn’t me). These are the things that should be reprimanded. But are so ruddy brilliant? I howl and howl #cockclock xxx
Ha – I’d have laughed too. It’s why I’m not as good as the discipline side of things as the NLM! Most recently (yesterday) we were doing reading with Frog when she misread a word as “tit”. I’m so mature I couldn’t help snorting – especially when read back in the sentence of the book (“Billy liked tit very much”).
Love this, you are not alone, I call it being a ‘fun mum’ and I’m totally still 16 in my head! x