The Inside Joke

So the other day, Finn said to me, "Mom, will you tell me an inside joke?"

Hmmm, how to explain an inside joke to a 9-year old.

I tried.

"Well, an inside joke isn't a joke you tell like a knock-knock joke or something. It's more like something that happens between you and someone else, or maybe other people, that later only you understand. So then when you refer to it later, it's called an inside joke."

I thought I did a pretty good job.

Although as I was trying to explain the concept to him by using an example, which I can't even remember what it was, I was reminded that when you have an inside joke with someone else, it's usually not even that funny except to the people involved.

I gave Finn an example of an inside joke that has existed between Tara, Erin and I since were young -- probably elementary/middle school age. It involved eating brownies on our boat in Lake Cumberland. To this day, when one of us says, "Brownie" to the others, we totally get the reference and laugh.

I told my story.

Finn did not laugh.

Instead, he gave me a blank stare.

A few minutes later, he said, "So are you going to tell me an inside joke?"

Apparently not.