I came to the conclusion yesterday that I am seriously lacking in the humor department. See? I can even talk about humor without using the word “seriously.” If I’m honest with myself, I’ve always been aware that I do not have the same sense of humor as others. But it’s not other people I care about. I know that I do not share my husband’s sense of humor, and that’s not a good thing.

I’m all for “opposites attract” and embracing each other’s quirks and idiosyncrasies, but laughter is such an important part of a marriage. My husband laughs all the time. I feel as though I laugh all the time. We just don’t laugh at the SAME time.

So back to this picture and why I’m musing on humor. Believe it or not, under this pile of parmesan cheese was Lexi’s spaghetti dinner. In true vaudeville fashion, it came pouring down when she only meant to sprinkle. Well, that just tickled my husband’s funny bone and he laughed. He giggled. He guffawed. He thought it was the funniest thing to happen all day.

Me? I just sat there with my brows knit thinking, “Seriously, did that just happen.” My husband was still laughing as I made Lexi another plate. I wasn’t mad in that moment. That wasn’t the feeling at all. I just…didn’t find it all that funny. My husband and daughter, though, love “physical, slapstick” humor. As a child, Lexi would throw massive temper tantrums and all my husband had to do was run into a wall or fall over a chair, and she would be all smiles again. My husband can be in a grumpy mood, and all I would need to do is turn on re-runs of Seinfeld and find a moment where Kramer tries to drink water while on Novocain and he can forget that he was irritated.

I laugh. I do. But I don’t always laugh when I find something funny. I enjoy puns and any kind of humor that plays on words. As soon as someone says, “Hey, let me tell you this story or joke. It’s hilarious,” I can guarantee that I won’t laugh. I don’t like to be told something is going to be funny. Let me judge for myself.

Many of you right now are thinking, “Lighten up, Nhung.” Humor isn’t something to analyze to death. Laughing is just something that spontaneously happens. The second I think too hard about it, the moment is over.

But you want to know the irony? After we finished dinner, and my husband was washing the dishes, I saw this plate of spaghetti heaped with a mountain of cheese…and I laughed.

Does it count if I find something funny well after everyone else does?