Humor: The Super Glue of Friendships

by Tonia

"Friends are God's ways of apologizing for our families." 

I love my girlfriends. Their love, support and hilarity have kept me out of psychiatric institutions. I tell them crazy-ass stories and they don’t judge me. I tell them about my stressful situations and, after they try to be empathic, they poke fun at them. Our shared humor brings me deep comfort because I know they “get me.” When they turn my angst/ fears/ heartbreaks/ disappointments into laughter, they turn my stinkin' straw into gold.

Women bond with laughter (both with and without eye-rolling). It’s our way of saying, "OMG, I know!" We share stories of midnight rendezvous with Ben & Jerry; of wrap-around skirt failings; of fake orgasms and mind-bending orgasms; of screaming babies with comatose partners; of incinerating, hell-preparatory hot flashes; of evil plots of revenge on exes….

If one of us complains about a husband’s irritating habit of rolling his eyes at her, someone responds, “Who does he think he is – a teenager?” Bingo. Girlfriend validated.

If one of us has morning sickness, someone says, “Yea, getting knocked up means a hangover every morning ... but without the shit-faced fun the night before.” Bingo. Girlfriend validated.

If one of us has a cooking disaster, someone has a similar story, “Hey! I tried to use Fruity Pebbles instead of Rice Krispies for snowballs - looked like balls of puke.” Bingo. Girlfriend validated.

It’s hard for girlfriends to get together for more than five minutes and not exchange some kind of personal information and start to laugh. It’s ‘estrogenergy’ – special female chemistry that has inspired quilting bees, garden parties, teas, sororities, bridge clubs, bridal showers, and baby showers for centuries. WE call them ‘estrofests!’

In honor of ‘estrofests,’ here are some hilarious woman-honoring games for your next girlfriends’ get-together:

FAKE ORGASM OLYMPICS – Ask three girlfriends to be judges. Equip each of them with five (5) pieces of paper with the numbers 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 written separately on each one. Then ask three participants to sit in chairs in front of the judges. Instruct the participants one at a time to spend 30 seconds doing their best imitation of an orgasm (think Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally). When the demonstration is complete, ask the three judges to hold up their “scores” (one of the five numbers). Add the score and then repeat with the second and third participants. Highest score wins.

SUPERMOM RELAY – Set up two identical mommy task/obstacle courses (described below). Form two teams of 3-5 women. Have each team create a line; give each team three  (3) dolls (representing children). Explain that each team member must run through a Mommy Task/Obstacle Course and complete each chore while holding on to her “children” (team members who drop children will be reported to Child Protective Services – this can be whatever you’d like it to be: starting over again, running a lap around the yard, etc.). When a team member has completed the course, she should return to the line and hand off the “children” to the next teammate so that she too can run the course. The first team to have all team members complete the task/obstacle course and return to the line wins. You can set out as many or as few tasks/obstacles as you like (just make sure that you set out two identical ones – one for each team). We have used some of the following:

(1) Grocery sacks with 5 (five) canned goods. Participants must put unload sacks and then load them again.

(2) Children’s books on chairs. Participants must sit down and read the first page out loud.

(3) Pans of water with a stack of 3 (three) plates. Participants must dip each plate in the water and restack.

(4) Lipsticks and mirrors. Participants must put lipstick on.

(5) Unfolded towels (as many as you have participants). Participants must fold one towel.

(6) Suit jackets. Participants must put jacket on and then take it off.

GET THAT MAN OFF YOUR BACK CONTEST – Using three male blow-up dolls and three game participants, tie one blowup doll to each participant’s back. To increase the level of difficulty you can also handcuff the participants. When the hostess says “Go!” the participants make every effort and gyration to try to get the “man off their backs.” First one to successfully do so wins.

Share with us some of your women-honoring games below!