Try not to laugh

The other night at dinner, N's behavior was, shall we say, not fit for dining at the Waldorf.

HRH Dad issued the edict to the rest of the diners that they not encourage the little stand-up comic by laughing at her.

As you can imagine, the intentional ignoring of our resident table clown only forced her to try harder for our laughs. And, as you might also imagine, it was working. While the older children were able to muffle their laughs when they caught a sharp glance from Dad, CB was not as successful. She looked up at her Dad and between giggles, said, "I can't help it. I just can't stop thinking about laughing."

I glanced up (because I, too, had hidden my smirking face), to find that the whole table was laughing--Dad included; while the little comedian sat back and smiled, satisfied with a job well done.