I have two boys who are 22 months apart. When our older son entered junior high, we noticed that certain words always caused him to laugh, even if what was being said wasn’t funny in the slightest. You can guess that some of those words were the names of certain body parts. However, another word (which I personally don’t use or care for) was the word fart. Whenever he heard the word fart he would laugh as if someone had just told the funniest joke in the world. It was one of those laughs that made you laugh, too, because it made no sense that he was laughing. Well, that went on for about two years. When my son entered high school, we realized that hearing the word fart didn’t elicit the same response in him as it had during those junior high years. I guess when you become a freshman you’re too mature to think the word fart is funny (but not too mature to have a farting contest with your brother, friend, or dad). Anyhow, while we were sitting at the dinner table one day, someone used the word fart, and who should burst out laughing but my other son, who had just entered junior high! It has since become a running joke that for the next two years, we can count on a good belly laugh from at least one member of our family upon hearing the word fart. I’m just praying it’s a male thing and my daughter won’t have the same experience when she gets to junior high.
