From tears to giggles in 3.9 seconds

It never ceases to amaze me that my daughter can at any given moment be screeching hysterically in anger, pain, or sadness with big old tears coursing down her cheeks, and can revert to giggling instantly. How is this possible? I mean here she stands, tears still caught on her lashes, salty moisture still clinging to her cheeks due to a tangle with a nasty tangle that big old meanie Daddy found while brushing her hair before bed with a big grin shining because I wanted to take her pouty face picture. All you need to do is tickle or taunt or tease or smooch and her hysterics will melt into laughter. Its the strangest thing. Although come to think of it, when I was about 13 my great Uncle Tom passed away (I have two great Uncle Tom's and one is still very alive.) This uncle Tom was married to my aunt Laura and I adored him so his death was devastating and came suddenly. At the viewing I had spent the first part in the bathroom puking, once that ceased I milled close to my aunt and my dad pretending to be okay for them. At one point, my two other cousins asked me to join them in the vestibule to get a drink of water. As we pressed the button on the cooler to fill our glasses, the water bubbles would rise in the glass bottle making a very loud burping noise. The sound was amplified simply by the deep recesses of quiet that engulfs a funeral home. The loud and sudden "GLURP" "GLURP" cracked me up. Here I was broken hearted, devastated with tear streaked cheeks and a churning stomach and suddenly I was giggling at the stupid water cooler. With each glass filled a new onslaught of giggles would take hold and its infectious nature soon had both of my cousins trying to hold back hysterical laughter as well. The three of us had to go outside and get a grip before returning to the viewing because we were laughing very inappropriately and loudly in the vestibule. So, perhaps this was my last vestige of childlike emotion as I had just hit my teenage years. Or maybe the truth is that laughter and tears are emotions that are intertwined and a moments change in our perception can actually change the feelings involved. Kids can have their perception changed much more easily than grown ups, so that could be why the sudden mood swings happen. Either that or my little girl is a freak. Nah. She's way too cute to be a freak.