Magical Moment 383, "Giggles"

One of the greatest bonding rituals among female kind, is the sacred act of uncontrollable giggling. It's not just a chuckle, or shared laugh, or even a knee-slapping, gut busting howl. No, a true giggle is much more complex. If you've been lucky enough to have one with a fellow sister, then you'll be familiar with these key elements that makes up a real giggle.

First, you have to share the same sense of odd, quirky humor that no one else in the universe understands. Like when my best friend Deb and I find it absolutely hilarious to make goat noises within ear shot of total strangers. It's very tricky to make the sound in a way that people can't tell where it's coming from. When we're out together with our husbands and the goat noises come out, our husbands suddenly don't know us. They hide their faces in shame and deny their own wives. But they just don't get how funny people's faces are when they think they hear a goat noise just walkin' down the sidewalk!

Second, sometimes it requires an "us verses them" mentality. This is mostly common when siblings (especially sisters) find themselves mutually entertained by a random, unintentionally funny act that one of their parents did. Like in church services growing up, when my older sister and I got too loud playing around instead of listening to the sermon. Our mom would lean over, and in her firmest, meanest, most intimidating, loud whisper, she would say with glaring eyes, "Stop it. Now!" I can't explain why (thus the mystery of the giggle), but that would set  my sister and I into a fit of absolutely uncontrollable giggles. To this day, all these years later, when we remember our mom's face and voice saying those words to us, we again burst into teary-eyed, cramp-inducing bouts of laughter. This has even happened since we've been adults sitting in church, and our mother had to separate her two twenty-something-year-old daughters and sit in between us. At least she finally learned that "Stop it. Now!" in a whisper through gritted teeth, doesn't work.

Third, you have to be completely comfortable with each other enough to really let yourself go. After all, a good giggle is usually the result of someone making a fool out of themselves. Like the time both of my sisters and I thought it would be hilarious to go around with our hoodies tied tight over our heads, making us look like little cone head aliens. And ya know what? It WAS hilarious!

You may have had a good giggle if you've experienced one or more of the following scenarios with either a sister or best friend:

-Calling your dad a "doofus" because he didn't know what "Lol" meant.

-Singing (or more like rapping) "Right Thurr" by Chingy at Karaoke Night.

-Saying "BEWARE!" in a satan-like devil voice and accidentally teaching it your 3-year old niece.

-Referring to your mom as "Slim" over and over until she gets so mad, she sends you to the car while she finishes the museum tour by herself. 

-Sticking the scrabble tiles to your forehead that spell out the word "Loser." And doing it backwards on accident.

-Kicking your foot through a soda vending machine to impress a boy with your karate skills.

-Doing ANY impression of ANYONE. It doesn't have to resemble them at all!

-Walking through New York City in a brightly colored, soaking wet wig.

-Seeing a bug that looked funny.

-Saying the word "pancake" funny.

-Putting on your lipgloss funny.

You may have had a true giggle if you've experienced any of the following symptoms:

-snorting

-hiccups

-mascara running down the cheeks

-difficulty breathing

-laughing at a particular incident, then hearing yourself laugh, and laughing at yourself laughing. Then calming down, re-living the incident in your mind, and beginning the cycle all over again.

Now this may sound similar to being "tipsy," but the real magic of the giggle is that it is done completely sober. Here's hoping you've had a true giggle with someone you love!