Childminding Diary – Blog by Leigh Ann Gilmore
“You don’t have to be crazy to live here, but it helps” – My Mom, circa mid-1980s
It aids in learning, it is considered a great medicine, it brightens dark days, and, in my opinion, at least, it is one of the most powerful tools in the parenting/childminding toolbox. I refer, of course, to our sense of humour.
One might question, how important is a sense of humour to the role of childminders and childminding? For me, see the quote above – it is my daily mantra!
Humour in any setting, particularly a setting with children, requires an understanding and acceptance of the varied backgrounds of the people (and children) around you. I have minded children who have looked at me like I have two heads when I’ve cracked a joke, and other children who have laughed at verbal humour from the age of two! Of course, it also requires that the humour is age appropriate and something that the parents of our little mindees will be on board with. So, like in a boardroom or in a hospital, humour around children (other than our own, of course!) can be a delicate balance.
A quick google search, because this is a blog, not a research paper, reveals that allowing children to explore humour and laughter has many benefits: building social skills, enhancing cognitive flexibility, developing emotional resilience, boosting confidence and self-esteem, and strengthening parent-child bonds.
For adults, laughter and humour reduce stress and improve our mental health. Anyone who has ever had a difficult day with children – and that includes absolutely everybody who has ever worked with them, knows the power of a well-timed joke. I still remember one particular seven-year-old who had a full-blown meltdown lasting a solid half hour. Nothing worked. It was winter, and cold outside, so I finally walked out of the room, grabbed their coat, hat, and gloves, and came back in. While they continued roaring, I held up the coat and gently said, “I’ve got a bit of a headache now from all the shouting. Would you mind finishing being upset in the garden? It’s very cold, though, so put this on.” The child froze. They looked at me, opened their mouth, reconsidered, and simply said, “I’m done.” Off they went to play. To this day, I’m not sure whether that moment came from humour or desperation, but either way, it worked.
Where and how can we introduce humour?
- Replace a word in a song or a book, with their name or familiar place/person
- Point out a funny word in a book (my 4 year old mindee has fits of giggles reading this book about animals because there is a “spruce goose” and a “brown booby”. A brown booby, in case you’re wondering, is a bird).
- When we’re out and about, we point out funny coloured cars or the antics of birds or animals.
- When calming down after being upset (but this one depends very much on the child) – one my Dad used to say to me, after I’d cried into his shoulder was, “Hey! You got my shirt all wet!” It was simple but it always made me laugh.
Another one from my Dad – he introduced the idea of “dry rain” and “wet rain” to us as kids. Dry rain was light, drizzly/misty rain, wet rain was, well, everything else. I wish you could see the faces of every child I have ever told, “Oh, it’s okay, we can go outside, it’s only dry rain!” But I can also tell you that, years later, those same kids, now teenagers, still remember dry rain and wet rain!
Children (and adults) hold onto the moments that made them laugh. They may forget the details, but, in the words of Maya Angelou, they never forget how you made them feel – and humour is a powerful way to make them feel safe, loved, and connected.