I have to admit something. No, not admit. I must acknowledge something. Something I’ve been trying to deny for some time. But I can deny it no longer. The facts have become too blatant to ignore. It’s staring me right in the face on an almost daily basis.

My daughter is an inappropriate laugher.

You know the type. I bet there are even a few of you reading this right now who knowing exactly what I’m talking about. People who, despite their good intentions or futile attempts at self-control, start to chuckle, chortle, giggle, snicker, guffaw or otherwise cackle during intense and completely inappropriate moments. For some inappropriate laughers it’s solemn occasions such as funerals, graduations, or religious services. The somber atmosphere combined with nervous tension seems to breed giggling. For others it’s awkward conversations. When debating or arguing they simply dissolve into laughter.

For my daughter, it’s scolding. Whenever she catches it for misbehaviour her eyes get wide and she attempts to look appropriately contrite, but before we know it she bursts into giggles, accompanied by a half crazed, half horrified look that says she knows her laughter is inappropriate but she can’t control it.

It’s really hard to give a kid heck when they are laughing uncontrollably.

I guess there are worse qualities for a person to possess. Here’s hoping she outgrows it before the first time she gets caught passing a note in class!