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I'm a new father and experiencing my son laugh for the first time has been one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever had. Nothing I know of compares to t

I'm a new father and experiencing my son laugh for the first time has been one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever had. Nothing I know of compares to the feeling I get. It's like a gush of joy and happiness. Here's an evolutional theory for the author: there's an unavoidable feeling of regret that comes with introducing children into your life. There's late crying, the destruction of personal time, there's moments of unstoppable crying... but it all just sort of melts away the minute he looks at our silly faces and cracks a grin. In that second all is forgiven and there's no regret.

ChuckMcM 10y ago
Having experienced the same thing I tend to agree there are likely evolutionary benefits to laughing with your parents or making them laugh. I tend to use humor as a coping mechanism (sometimes to my wife's chagrin) but I can also see that in infants who are limited in their ability to take action to change their environment.
a3n 10y ago
> I'm a new father and experiencing my son laugh for the first time has been one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever had. Nothing I know of compares to the feeling I get. It's like a gush of joy and happiness. My son's in college now, and I still haven't forgotten when he was not yet walking, less than a year old, and we sat on the couch cracking each other up every time I said the word "chicken." Who knows why it was funny? It was hilarious to us. Another time he was also not yet walking, and new to crawling (and I was new to his crawling). I set him down on the floor, left the room, came back and he wasn't there. Minor panic until I found him behind the couch. Then he cracked up. He played a joke on me.
- jerf 10y ago
  'My son's in college now, and I still haven't forgotten when he was not yet walking, less than a year old, and we sat on the couch cracking each other up every time I said the word "chicken." Who knows why it was funny?' If you'd like, you can try bonding once again over the collegiate-level telling of that joke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk
  - jrowley 10y ago
    Wow this is really fantastic. It really could make a great primer for how a technical/research presentation should flow. I love at the end how he has a prepared slide to answer the question. Good stuff
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Brilliant! Chicken chicken! Chicken.
- falsedan 10y ago
  Babies' jokes are the best jokes.
- moomin 10y ago
  Oh grief, my 5yo thinks chicken is the funniest word in the world.
e40 10y ago
I hear ya. At 6mo old my son did his first belly laugh. He had laughed before that, but never so deeply. I was lucky I got pictures of it. I sure wish I had gotten it on video, though. It was the kind of laugh that was totally infectious. It went on for a couple of minutes. His aunt, who he had never seen before, had come over and was doing something with her face. Every time she did it he laughed for about 20 seconds. Just remembering this brings joy to me.
ralfd 10y ago
I think this is how "dad jokes" are forming. You love to crack your kids up, but you can't use anthing what goes over their head. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3ogbzd/whats_your_best_dad_joke/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3ogbzd/whats_you...

ChuckMcM 10y ago

Having experienced the same thing I tend to agree there are likely evolutionary benefits to laughing with your parents or making them laugh. I tend to use humor as a coping mechanism (sometimes to my wife's chagrin) but I can also see that in infants who are limited in their ability to take action to change their environment.

a3n 10y ago

> I'm a new father and experiencing my son laugh for the first time has been one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever had. Nothing I know of compares to the feeling I get. It's like a gush of joy and happiness. My son's in college now, and I still haven't forgotten when he was not yet walking, less than a year old, and we sat on the couch cracking each other up every time I said the word "chicken." Who knows why it was funny? It was hilarious to us. Another time he was also not yet walking, and new to crawling (and I was new to his crawling). I set him down on the floor, left the room, came back and he wasn't there. Minor panic until I found him behind the couch. Then he cracked up. He played a joke on me.

jerf 10y ago
'My son's in college now, and I still haven't forgotten when he was not yet walking, less than a year old, and we sat on the couch cracking each other up every time I said the word "chicken." Who knows why it was funny?' If you'd like, you can try bonding once again over the collegiate-level telling of that joke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk
- jrowley 10y ago
  Wow this is really fantastic. It really could make a great primer for how a technical/research presentation should flow. I love at the end how he has a prepared slide to answer the question. Good stuff
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Brilliant! Chicken chicken! Chicken.
falsedan 10y ago
Babies' jokes are the best jokes.
moomin 10y ago
Oh grief, my 5yo thinks chicken is the funniest word in the world.

e40 10y ago

I hear ya. At 6mo old my son did his first belly laugh. He had laughed before that, but never so deeply. I was lucky I got pictures of it. I sure wish I had gotten it on video, though. It was the kind of laugh that was totally infectious. It went on for a couple of minutes. His aunt, who he had never seen before, had come over and was doing something with her face. Every time she did it he laughed for about 20 seconds. Just remembering this brings joy to me.

ralfd 10y ago

I think this is how "dad jokes" are forming. You love to crack your kids up, but you can't use anthing what goes over their head. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3ogbzd/whats_your_best_dad_joke/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3ogbzd/whats_you...