Off the Wall

Joseph says that my sense of humor is off the wall. Last night I asked him for some examples of my humor and he couldn't even think of any, saying, "it's so off the wall, I can't remember." This is funny to me because, most of the time when I say these things, it's just the next connection my brain makes to whatever we are talking about. I might have a sense that Joseph will think it's funny, but I don't necessarily mean to make him crack up. The kids have learned to crack up when I talk only because Joseph does.

I was teasing my Primary kids last week and they just stared at me, in fear that I might be serious. I told them that they have to get used to me because I like to joke around. This shows me that you have to live with me for a while or be around me a lot to understand my "off the wall" humor. I know that I can control it too. For instance, this week in Primary, I didn't joke around. There are people I joke around with and people I don't.

I can be pretty sarcastic. If I get a sense that you are sarcastic too, my sarcasm usually takes the front row seat. Some people are very literal and if I let a sarcastic comment fly, I find that I wish I hadn't. Maybe that's why I come home from social situations at times wishing I hadn't even gone. Turns out, from what I can figure, the humor in my home growing up was sarcastic. I'm not sure, though, if all my siblings have a sarcastic sense of humor. So if you add my off-the-wall comments and my sarcasm, I'm not sure what you get. I cringe when my kids tell their teachers, "I got my sense of humor from my mom." What can that mean in the real world?

Joseph's family grew up making plays on words. You can be driving down the highway and see a sign with something misspelled, a grammatical error, or better yet an awkward phrase or sentence and he thinks it's great fun, hilarious. I used to just roll my eyes at these kinds of "jokes" but I've tried real hard to lighten up (see blog title), so maybe our kids can experience the best of two weird worlds!! With the kids, Joseph likes to use that reverse psychology type of humor, "Now you can eat that food, but don't enjoy it!" or "If you come to our house to play, there's just one rule, NO having fun!" The kids get a big kick out of it. When I try it, they just look at me like I have two heads.

Now this next piece of information added to the first creates even more mystery for me to decipher about myself. I'm not a fun person (my poor kids). I took one of those personality tests where you find out if you are blue, red, white or yellow. I was a brilliant red with a little blue and white, but no yellow (fun-loving). A lady in my ward, whom I love for her smile, had a jewelry party the other night. I couldn't make it, but I asked her how it went. She said they had a great time and talked about what happens to women when they get together without their kids. In that moment, I both wished I could have been there and was also terribly grateful I hadn't been there. That kind of fun, scares me. I'm the kind of person who becomes mortified when I decide to attend a meeting and there's a getting-to-know-you or "icebreaker" type game. I wish I could melt into the floor when a game is announced.

So, if I had a wish right now, it would be to step into a different personality for a day and see what life can be like from a different point of view. But that scares me, so I'll keep my wish away from the genie!