Knick-Knock

Lydia on the first day of preschool - which is where she learned about the existence of Knick-knock jokes.

Lydia has become obsessed with developing humor, and what constitutes a joke, especially knock-knock jokes (which she calls knick-knock jokes). I really enjoy her journey in attempting to understand humor - especially since humor is such a subjective, cultural aspect of life. I like watching her come to understand what we as Americans, as Westerners find funny.

This journey has on our part mostly been us enduring a long string of:

Lydia: Knick-Knock

Thora: Who's there?

Lydia: Peach banana-head - and then she breaks out into peals of laughter, never even reaching the end of the usual knock-knock joke structure.

Today Lydia worked her knick-knock jokes with me, and actually completed one, that I, at least, after countless of these bon mots found hilarious.

Lydia: Knick-Knock

Thora: Who's there?

Lydia: No one

Thora: No one who?

Lydia: No one funny.

I do not think Lydia understood why true laughter bubbled up out of me after this, instead of the fake polite ha-has we've previously been delivering.

In honor of Lydia, I then spent the rest of the car ride we were at that point partaking of inventing new Knock-knock jokes.

Thora: Knock Knock

You: Who's there?

Thora: Your

You: Your Who?

Thora: You're reading my blog, and you don't know me? (Substitute with, I'm your wife, sister, mother, etc, and you don't know me?)

Or:

Thora: Knock Knock

You: Who's there?

Thora: You

You: you who?

Thora: I'm right here - you don't have to shout at me.

Or:

Thora: Knock-knock

You: who's there?

Thora: Ya

You: Ya who?

Thora: No thanks, I prefer Google.

Yes, I have now revisited the humor model we grow out of before there are two digits to our ages. But Lydia appreciated all my jokes, and laughed at them as well - sometimes even the laughter waited until the delivery of the punch line, as apposed to when I started the joke.