More on three kids: because the jokes rock!

I want to add a silly update to the “Why have three (or more) children” series.

You ready for this? Because you get to use all the good jokes one more time.

No, really. This pregnancy, my husband got to remind me that I used to refer to myself not as “with child” but “with tummy.”

Or the way my Patient Husband fondly refers to me as his “four-footed friend.” (Because with the baby, I have four feet rather than two. And yes, I let him live.) Also cue all the “extra feet” jokes. Or the time someone told me I “had balls” and I replied, “I dunno — I might!” and the person was really startled.

No doubt we’ll come up with new good jokes for Kiddo#4 (we always do!) but we’ll also have at our disposal all the good jokes from Ks#1-3! And you can’t beat that. People will think we’re scathingly brilliant and witty, rather than multipracticed.

What kind of good jokes? How about when you take the baby to the doctor, and she measures the baby and announces, “He’s 24 inches long!” and you can stand behind her saying dryly, “Well, it makes sense, Doctor: I have two feet.”

Or when the baby cuts her first tooth and you say, “Look, it’s a oneth,” and people frown at that last word, and you can say, “Only the second is properly called a ‘twoth.'”

And then they pelt you with fish or whatever else is handy, but hey, it’s worth it. All those once-in-a-lifetime puns will come around again for someone else’s lifetime.

Plus, as the Kiddo gets older, you have a fresh audience for all those jokes your older Kiddos have gotten used to reciting along with you.

You’re rolling your eyes, but laughter is the heart of a healthy family, and another child is a chance to laugh at the world all over again.