Unfortunately, we have all experienced that jerkface bully. Weather it’s in the schoolyard, workplace, social circles or the soccer field, we are all victims.

A special shout out goes to the Dad on the soccer field last weekend who was telling his kid who got hit to stop crying and if he didn’t play, the dumbass Dad was going to wait in the car. You, my friend, I feel bad for you. Besides embarrassing yourself, you were picking on your own kid! YOU ARE A STAGE 1 BULLY.

These people have always been around.  They are cowardly people doing cowardly things, stemming from some insecurity and their own personal issues. The bully lacks attention, feels hopeless, jealous or possibly learns it at home, from an older sibling OR PARENT!

I think it’s time we take on bullies head on, bring it! Trust me; from these articles, I have received comments from people judging me on my parenting style. It’s ok, judge away, I can take it. I have finally reached “Bad Mom” status! I mean, really, haven’t you seen my movie?

Let’s try to change the way we deal with bullies instead of letting them win. Take a play from a standup comic’s playbook; we should all learn to harness the art of humor. Imagine that? I happen to be a master at it!

A comic’s job is to keep calm and remain in control when that loud mouthed, obnoxious heckler tries to throw them off of their game. Humor is a tool that can be used to show self-confidence, removes tension from a room, and makes people feel comfortable. From the mouth of the great Joan Rivers, “Let me tell you what comedy is about. Comedy is to make everybody laugh at everything and deal with things. You idiot!” So the next time someone has something to say and tries to give you a hard time, don’t get mad…get silly!

If anyone knows me, they know that I always have a snappy response to just about everything. Like the idiot lady at Target who looked at me while my kids are running around the store and said, “Well, don’t you have your hands full.” My response,  “Thanks, I am just doing my part to save the social security system, what have you done today?” Or when someone rudely asks me if my boobs are real or fake, my response, “My boobs are real, my smile is fake.” Ha! Or when people ask me, “Are you crazy?” My response,“You hear the voices too? They have been telling me that for years.”

Using humor changes the tone of the entire situation. When we laugh. we make hostility and problems become smaller.

As a parent, I want to teach my kids how to deal with a stage 1 jerkface bully. I want to set the tone for the assholes they will come across in the future. Teaching our kids how to laugh at themselves, and not to take everything so seriously will help navigate any bully they come across.

Kids naturally have a sense of humor so why not roll with it.  Trust me the old saying “I know you are but what am I?” is silly but works in shutting that bully down.  So let’s lead by example and lighten up!  As a parent with a sense of humor like a teenage girl, here are some of my suggestions.

• Don’t take yourself so seriously –be more aware of your own ways. Do you nag or are you a helicopter parent hovering over your kid? Take it down a notch and chill.
• Let your kids joke around – perhaps a segment at the dinner table called “the joke of the day”
• Tell a story about yourself. Did you make any mistakes today? It will teach your kids that there is no such thing as perfection (except for me, right?)
• Teach your kids to find humor in every situation even if it’s a bad situation. There is a lot of depression in the world right now, and although it’s real and happening we can always find the positive side.
• Know when enough is enough. Humor should not be used as an escape, it should be used to make it easier to deal with. When it gets to another level, there is help.

You may have heard the expression, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Well, it’s true. Laughing helps us stick together and makes it easier to get through hard times. Laughter and humor are basic traits that everyone, including a jerk face bully soccer Dad, has. It starts at a young age, kids call each other names and most of the time it’s silly. My kids call each other “dumb stupid heads,” and I ask them “are you a dumb stupid head?” (in a half-ass serious tone). They say no and then I give them a snack and move on. I know I might take some heat for this, but I don’t always want to teach them that calling each other a dumb stupid head is going to hurt their feelings, especially since clearly they are not.  Our kids go to school and the teachers tell them not to call each other names. I get why, blah blah, but why not laugh it off? We give bullies power by letting them “hurt our feelings.” Let’s try something new – laugh, and laugh a lot! It’s ridiculous to give someone that much power over you.