Why are Falls so Funny?

I spend a lot of time stifling laughter around my daughter.

It's sort of like when I was in college. I went to school in one of the most bike-friendly places in the United States. Rarely did I get through a day without seeing at least one person wreck their bike and fall -- sometimes gracefully, others disastrously.

I'd be riding or walking across campus and someone would crash right in front of me. There would be a split second when I'd wait to see that the person was okay. And then, as they got back on the bike and kept going, there would be collective snicker among everyone who saw it happen.

Now, I do the same thing at home. Sometimes my daughter does something cute and starts to giggle herself. Other times, she does something she shouldn't do, or could even get hurt doing. But as long as she's okay, I can't help but break into a fit of laughter.

It's horrible, I know. But it happened just a minute ago. She had put one of my husband's t-shirts over her head and called it her "hat." She played peek-a-boo with it for a few minutes, and then decided to walk toward me. She didn't get very far, though, because the mess of toys on the floor tripped her up after 2 steps.

As she tumbled onto the carpet, my first reaction was to think "Oh, no! She's going to hurt herself!" But as she emerged from beneath the shirt -- looking confused about how she ended up on the ground -- I was through.

I tried to control the explosion of laughter long enough to scold her and tell her it was dangerous to walk around that way, but I could tell from the look on her face that she knew. Even if it was wrong, it was still funny.

I should really work on that...