knock knock, who's there, oh... wait

It's that time of year again.

I have five favorite kindergarten elephant jokes.  Each year when we sing about elephants, I tell them. It usually takes about three hearings before any six year olds "get" the punch line.  It takes 2-3 more hearings before they can tell them.  They are-

How does the baby elephant call his mama?  On the Elephone.
What does the baby elephant do once he finishes his homework?  Watch Elevision.
What weighs 500 lbs and wears glass slippers?  Cinderelephant.
What did the cat say to the elephant?  meow.
What did the grape say to the elephant?  Nothing.  Grapes can't talk.

Once they master the art of telling the elephant jokes I've given them, they are allowed to make up and share their own elephant jokes.  If you haven't seen a kindergartener make up a joke, you should really just ask the next one you see to tell you one.    The thing is, when you are 5, you believe you can do everything an adult says you can do so you think of the question part of the joke before an answer occurs to you, confident in the knowledge that something funny will magically appear.

I have had three favorite moments this year so far in the retelling and making up of jokes.

The most common mistake in the retelling is in the cat joke.  They say "what did the elephant say to the cat?" instead of the other way around.  Usually they ignore their error and finish with "meow."  Last Wednesday, J.C. reversed the animals, paused to have her brain explode and then put her arm up to her nose and made elephant sounds.  Ah the element (elephant) of surprise!

The second one- Why did the elephant sit on the couch?  He was tired.

And the third- Why did the elephant get a cat?  Because he didn't want a dog.

I got a million of 'em folks....