Erin Spatz: Delivering a joke is a talent

I love a good joke.  What I love even more  is when the timing of a joke is perfect. Comedic timing is a gift.
I have recently discovered that Autumn has this gift. Her ability to set  a joke up and deliver it with perfect timing is hilarious!

The first time she did this was on Grandparents day at her school. Since both sets of grandparents live out of state, Grandparents day has always been a bit of a struggle for us. First, I tried to keep them home, but realistically, how long can I do that? Eric and I tried going, but that was not fun for the kids. All of the other kids had someone special, not mom or dad.

Finally, this year, they had someone special to go! My friend Holly Davis,  a.k.a “Aunt Hottie” (Denver started calling her that, and it stuck.) I begged sweet Aunt Hottie to go to  Grandparents day. Not for just one of the kids, but for ALL of the kids. Really early in the morning, two days in a row. What made this even more of a stretch for her is that she is in no way grandma material. Just as her nickname implies, she is Aunt Hottie, at least 40 years away from being anyone’s Grandma!
Grandparents day came, and Autumn convinced her teacher that her “grandma” was in fact  coming. She also shared that she wasn’t sure why they called their grandma “Aunt Hottie,” but that was her name. Autumn went on and on about her amazing, wonderful “Grandma” Aunt Hottie. Autumn’s poor teacher was shocked, to say the least, to see Aunt Hottie walk through the door, looking considerably younger than anyone’s grandma.
Seeing her teacher’s face, Autumn cracked up! She couldn’t stop laughing. She thought she was hilarious, and laughed until she had tears. She knew Aunt Hottie didn’t look like a grandma, and had completely planned and executed the jokeon her teacher.

Last week, she struck again. On Wednesdays, we eat dinner at church, and I sent the kids in first, while I finished talking to a friend. Autumn walked in holding Chandler’s hand. Our Pastor, Chris, was manning the door, collecting money for dinner. He asked Autumn, “Who drove to church?” since he didn’t see me. She looked him dead in the face and said “I did,and Chandler did the pedals.”  She knew that if she had just said “me”,  he would have said “but you can’t reach the pedals.” She was cover ing her bases.

It is no surprise that Autumn is funny. She comes from a long line of very funny women. It is, however, a bit frightening that she is honing her “talent” this young. I can feel the teenage years looming ...