The happiness levels of a parent fluctuate as they age. Research shows that parents are the happiest in the first year of their child's life and the unhappiest when their kids are teenagers. It's understandable when you consider the amount of stress and energy that it takes to deal with an adolescent.
But some parents never lose their sense of humor, no matter how hard life gets. We're dedicating this list to those parents: parents who can still make dad jokes and see the funny side of things even years after their children are born. Laughing brings us close together, and laughing with family makes family relationships stronger!
#1 First "Body In A Suitcase" Story With A Happy Ending
Image credits: HenpeckedHal
#2 Cooper Leveled Up On Dog Ability
Image credits: imgur.com
#3 Our Baby Announcement Photo. My Wife Looked So Obnoxiously Thin 24 Hours After Delivery That I Joked I Looked Like The One Who Had Just Delivered. So We Decided To Swap For A Funny Photo
Image credits: tyleryoungblood
Not everyone is fortunate enough to grow up with parents who have a great sense of humor. But those who do, it turns out, have an advantage in life. Last year, researchers from Pennsylvania State University found that adults who grew up with funny parents are more likely to view their childhood experiences and their parents' parenting styles positively.
63% of the respondents who reported good relationships with their parents claimed that their parents used humor in their discipline. Only 3.7% said their parents didn't employ their funny bones in their parenting strategies.
Benjamin Levi, professor of pediatrics and humanities at Penn State College of Medicine and the lead author of the study, emphasized how this implies that humor can help us be better parents. "My hope is that people can learn to use humor as an effective parenting tool, not only to diffuse tension but develop resilience and cognitive and emotional flexibility in themselves and model it for their children," he said.
#4 That Time My Dad Used Pipe Cleaners For His School Picture
He was the daytime custodian for 30 years at an elementary school
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#5 My Dad Apparently Sneaks His Remote Into A Local Bar So He Can Change The Channel When He Doesn’t Like What’s On. I’m Equally Embarrassed And Impressed
Image credits: BandoLou
#6 My Dad’s Gang Meeting In The Streets
Image credits: WebExciting3860
Life Coach Michelle Grosser notes how using humor can come in particularly handy when parenting toddlers. Dealing with a toddler tantrum is essentially a power play. So, instead of coming from a place of authority and ordering them to do something, make them think that it's fun to do things together.
"It's being silly – it's that pretending to brush the stuffed animals teeth while your 2 year old brushes her teeth. It is turning things into games or competition," Grosser writes. Your kid doesn't want to get into the car? Pretend to be a pilot. Kids don't want to get dressed for school? Make it into a competition of who can do it the fastest.
#7 Look At This Giant Blanket Mom Crocheted
Image credits: setoxxx
#8 A Dad Being A Dad At A Supermarket
Image credits: StardustPrime
#9 My Mom’s Hat For A "Funny Hat Party", She Calls It: "I Can’t Find My Glasses"
Image credits: Salty_Invite_757
Why does humor work so well, especially with toddlers? According to the parenting experts at Nurtured First, play is like a language that toddlers can understand. Then, even explaining to your toddler the situations that play out in real life might be easier for them to digest.
"You might say something like, 'Mr. Giraffe is upset. He screams at his mom when he gets home from school. I wonder what Mr. Giraffe needs?'" they suggest saying. The toddler then may answer with something like, "He needs a snack."
#10 My Parents Won The Costume Contest
Image credits: Zacharyyyyy
#11 My Dad Has Always Been A Master Of Disguising Gifts, And This Year Drilled A Hole In A Piece Of Wood To Hide A Ring Box For My Mom
The look of "too many years of this" is strong with this one.
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#12 My Dad Sent Me A Picture This Morning And Said “It Finally Happened”
Image credits: ThadCastlePhD
Playfulness is also a great way to make your kid pay attention to something else. If a kid doesn't want to get into bed at night, suggest they do it like a bunny or a penguin. The parent can participate too: join your toddler in hopping like a bunny, waddling like a penguin, or stalking in like a cat. It's much more likely to put a smile on your toddler's face than make them continue the tantrum.
#13 My Dad Thought He Was Home Alone. I Had To See Why He Was Laughing So Hard
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#14 That Smile
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#15 My Dad Was The Only One At The Office Today, So He Made This Picture And Sent It To My Family
Image credits: an_intellectuaI
Playfulness and humor also help toddlers make sense of the world around them. Presenting these seemingly simple problems through the world of play makes them digestible for the toddler. Kids often play out real-life situations with their toys, be it a conflict at preschool or something that happened at home.
"Instead of having a tantrum, they can communicate what they need or express their fears through role-play, or release their emotions using a creative outlet like drawing," the parenting experts at Nurtured First write.
#16 Me And My Dad At The Fire Pit We Just Built
Image credits: PhantomRoyce
#17 After My Family Refused To Help Me Convince My Dad To Wear A Pickle Costume For Halloween, I Bought One And Sent It To Him Anyway. Meet My Dad, Rick
Image credits: Purple_Drank
#18 Throwback To When My Mom Forgot To Submit My Senior Baby Ad For The Yearbook And Asked My Dad To Do It
Image credits: JestarAuthor
There's one thing to note here, though: humor and play should never be used to downplay a child's emotions or dismiss their opinions. It's about giving them a way to express their feelings and soften the defenses that a child and a parent put up during a conflict. Shared laughter is powerful between strangers, but it's even more important for good parent-child relationships.
#19 My Dad, A Retired Carpenter, Wearing His Dad-Liest Shirt
Image credits: adventuresinnonsense
#20 Can't Stop Laughing
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#21 This Is Pretty Funny
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What about your parents, Pandas? What silliness have they sent to you lately? Share it with the rest of us in the comments! And if you'd like to see more parents acting ridiculous and entertaining their children of all ages in the most ridiculous ways, check out our previous article right here!
#22 My Dad Sent Me A Picture Of My Mom And The “Nice Young Man” At Their Table At A Charity Dinner Last Night
Image credits: Lawsonstruck
#23 Mermaid And Her Mer-Dad At Disneyland
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#24 My Mom Didn’t Want A Birthday Cake So My Dad Had To Improvise
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#25 That’s Love
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#26 Took My Older Mom To Comic-Con. She Said She Saw A Wall Outlet Cosplay. Curious, We Went Back And
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#27 Motherly Bookmark
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#28 My Dad And I As The Dude And Walter
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#29 Kitestar
That’s me in the background unsuccessfully trying to get a kite to stay airborne.
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos.com
#30 Year 1 Of The Halloween Family Costume. I Somehow Convinced The Girls That Being A Princess Was Not Cool And Dressing Up With Mom And Dad As Oompa Loompa Would Be Fun
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#31 My Father In Law Was Shopping And Found This Costume That Looks Exactly Like Him
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos.com
#32 My Mum And Dad Are Going To A Eurovision Evening Tonight Where You Randomly Pick A Country And Have To Dress Up As That Country. They Picked Greece
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#33 Hilarious
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#34 This Dad Tweeted His Son's Fake ID On The Liquor Store's Wall Of Shame
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#35 Parents Used To Tell My Brother And I That We Had Another Brother Who Turned Into A Mushroom From Not Taking A Bath. Even Added Him To The Family Albums
Image credits: imgur.com
#36 Was At My Kid’s School For A Costume Parade. One Dad Misunderstood In The Best Way Possible
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#37 My Friend Spotted This At Walmart
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#38 My Son Has A Fake Baby For His Child Development Class. It Started Crying During His Soccer Game This Morning. So I Had To Pretend To Feed My Fake Grandchild On The Sidelines While He Played
Robo-baby is doing much better now with a full belly.
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#39 I Need This
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#40 My Dad Likes To Get Up To Hijinks When Left Alone
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#41 I'm A Dad Who Was Charged $39.35 To Hold My Son At The Hospital. Here's My Kid In His New Favorite Shirt
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#42 This Dad Who Had The Most "Dad" Ever Response To His Kid's Good News
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#43 My Dad Who Doesn’t Feed The Dogs
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#44 They Don’t Make Costumes Like They Used To Anymore
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#45 Dad Put This Up For My Younger Sister
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#46 My Short Mom Sends Our Family Photos Of Her With Really Tall People
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#47 Found This In My Friend’s Basement, Yes That’s His Mom
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#48 My Mother Was On A Tight Schedule And Was Going Straight To Her Clown Gig After Sending Us Off To Prom
Image credits: awkwardfamilyphotos.com
#49 This Note My Dad Wrote Me To Get Me Out Of PE
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#50 Tired Of The Kids Losing One Remote
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