Humor at the Center

In the newest Exchange curriculum resource, "Child Development II: A Beginnings Workshop Book", Jerry Parr, in his chapter, "Humor as a Tool in the Workplace," talks about the importance of using humor — in an appropriate manner — in an early childhood program. While his entire article can be found on our home page, www.ChildCareExchange.com, here are some excerpts...

"Humor is a bridge; anger is a torch. Humor links people together, allows opportunities to poke and jab at sore spots and come away stronger, provides opportunities to release some pressure before the lid blows off, and opens the door for answers to questions that are uncomfortable to ask. Many issues remain unresolved in a stressful child care environment when staff becomes too defensive to hear comments as constructive. Humor can often be the tool to first crack the defensive behaviors so that discussions that follow are receptive and responsive. When people are laughing they are listening; when they are listening they can make a difference...

"Humor is not a contact sport. Hiding behind humor is not the same as using humor as a tool. Then it becomes a weapon of destruction, demoralizing staff and creating credibility gaps. Telling someone something malicious, then pawning it off as "just kidding" when the reaction evoked is more than you can handle, is offensive. Being honest with someone and softening the response with humor promotes trust. There is a fine line between healthy humor and ridicule. Telling someone whose feet stink that they should replace the Limburger cheese with Dr. Scholl's inserts will probably not fix the problem."