Anyone feel as though they are in a laughter deficit ? It has been a tough year for laughter. I have missed friends and get togethers and the joy of a spontaneous, good laugh.

Sure there is Netflix, Comedy Central, Zoom and Michael McIntyre (if you don't know who he is - he will really help your laughter deficit) (1)  I have certainly laughed with my family; I have laughed at the TV; I have laughed on zoom. But I have not laughed enough. I am in a laughter deficit.

What does that mean? Well it might mean no new laughter wrinkles. So that is a good thing, right? But it has long been scientifically proven that laughter helps your mental and physical health. Humor builds bonds, defuses tension, boosts innovation, and bolsters resilience through hard times.  (2) Laughter can reduce pain, strengthen your immune system, keep your heart healthy, and help with asthma and COPD. (3) Laughter has long been linked to health. There is even a mention in the bible:

Adults are already less likely to laugh, even in a good year. Laughter seems to fade in adulthood, to occasional rather than daily and sometimes vanishes completely into 'That's funny', or 'LOL'  rather than genuine laughter. It is as though the adult hilarity button in your brain has been dialed way down to the 'almost boring setting'. A joke which would cause reels of laughter in a child seems like dull sentences to an adult. This age induced laughter deficit does not entail a good prognosis.

I am very lucky; I constantly have a back pocket full of mirth in my day. My hilarity dial is turned up high as I work in an elementary school. Elementary schools are a highly functioning laughter factory. Of course there are other emotions too: tears, frustration, even anger - the full spectrum of emotions. I am not denying that there are those and that these emotional dials are often dialed up to the highest settings too. But laughter is always the brightest and in my experience the most consistent .

When children get together for unstructured play, there is lots of laughter. If you close your eyes for a moment, zone out all the colors and movement, you can hear a loud joyful melody. I love the sound of recess. Some may hear only loud noise and may even shy away from the playground, but I love it.  The individual laughter from each child blended with many others and amplified on the playground, makes a symphony, a broadway play and a number one hit; all rolled into one. A sound like many musicians playing on many different instruments from all kinds of different genres. It makes a unique but similar masterpiece everyday. 

The laughter melds together, similar to the way jazz musicians who have never met, can jam as though they have played together for years. The many voices on the playground make a loud and heartwarming sound. It is though children already know the script of happiness. The script is purely to laugh, shout and proclaim to the whole world that they are completely proficient in the language of joy.

Laughter truly is music to your ears. It is contagious and up lifting. Children can teach adults how to dial up their hilarity button. I have been a beneficiary of their wisdom.

Young children love to make you laugh, as much as they like to laugh themselves. They are not afraid to dance a silly dance to make you giggle or tell the same joke to you multiple times, even to get the punchline wrong but still generate a laugh.

Children are joyful. They experience the type of laughter which comes from your stomach, the spontaneous roar of delight. Studies show a four year old child laughs 300 times a day. For a 40 year old adult to laugh that much it takes 2 months. (4)   Children are the best combination. They are naturally uninhibited and joyful, a recipe for laughter.

As much as the mere thought of the playground symphony makes me extremely happy, it makes me deeply sad to think how much of a laughter deficit our children must be in this year (2021).  If we are in a laughter deficit as adults, children must be in a laughter drought. Virtual schools, no playdates, busy parents juggling jobs and their children's school work, no visits to grandparents, no making new friends at the playground, no fun vacations. In addition many children have been witness to the deep grief of their parents who have lost jobs or loved ones. Some children are grieving themselves.

Children have been taught to stay away from people. Taught that others, even their friends and family may bring them harm or that they may bring harm to them. Not conducive to the abundance of laughter they deserve as a child.

When the children returned to my elementary school, I worried about how the transition would go. Can they make up a deficit or is it like lost sleep, lost forever? Can you relearn how to laugh with friends ? Is it an instinct ? I hoped so. These particular children had been out of school since February 2020 and in a strict lockdown which meant they could not leave the house for over two months; playdates had been on hold for such a long time. The new school rules were strict  - recess with masks (all day with masks), no equipment, no monkey bars, no swings, no slides. The first day was hard to endure, the younger ones especially looked lost as they wandered around not sure exactly what they were and were not allowed to do and there seemed to be a lot of not allowed.

But the next day was different. The students found plenty of games to play. Among us, picking daisies, a modified tag. The playground was filled with laughter again, the smiles were behind masks but the laughter could not be contained. Together, laughter did not sound muffled. Covid compliant rules and expectations became just rules and expectations. Gel in, Gel out. Pull your masks up. Sit in your spots. All became the new norm. Sitting socially distanced three to a table at lunch the students tell jokes, share stories, the laughter is loud and chatter louder. The laughter returned as though it had never left. This is a positive indicator for us all.

Children are resilient especially at my school - we are a military school and military children are renowned for being resilient--they have to be. They move often, the schools, rules and friends change. They are not in close proximity to grandparents or extended family. Mothers and/or fathers leave - sometimes for a really long time. Resilience is a great skill to have but not at the expense of laughter. Military kids learn at a young age that sometimes there is sadness, when you leave friends or they leave you, you have to leave people you love. Maybe these children know the secret is that you have to make friends fast and laugh often. Maybe they know how to switch up their hilarity dial because;

How can we help our children dial up their hilarity dial?

• Laugh with them. When they tell you a joke.  Look them in the eye tell them they are funny.

• Tell Dad jokes, Mum jokes, Uncle jokes, Aunt jokes, Grandparent jokes.

• Watch funny movies together.

• Dance.

• Retell the funny things that happened in your day and ask them theirs. 

• Be silly.

Bonus it helps us too. There is hope. Laughter will return in abundance in our lives if we let it in.

Footnotes

(1) Link to Michael McIntyre's YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUFrBvQ96A-KeU6NgpemQXA (Adult content - view first before showing to your children).

(2) Humor, Seriously byJennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/books/humor-seriously

(3) https://www.laughterremedy.com/category/physical-health/

(4) Humor Us by Hidden Brain - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750#episodeGuid=9f62de08-cc25-4891-a7d1-ad0f012ee786