Cindy Meis

But Mommy, I don't want to finish this brownie

Cindy Meis says her three kids — Jack, 6, Kate, 1, and Sam, 3 — are funny, although perhaps not intentionally.

“I was talking about it with my husband, and I said that kids lack common sense. … We decided that common sense is a learned behavior,” she said.

Meis said that her kids start crying for all sorts of reasons that she finds hilarious — because they were asked to finish a brownie or take a nap.

“Every adult I know would love to take an afternoon nap,” she said.

Meis also said she finds sarcasm to be quite funny. She often uses sarcasm in her job as a counselor at the University of Iowa Career Center.

“I use it in the workplace as a defense mechanism or to lighten the mood,” she said.

Her husband, Mitch, has a knack for sarcastic comebacks and is a great storyteller.

“He’s a big jokester,” she said.

Humor is an integral part of their relationship. Meis recalls that when she and Mitch were first dating, they bonded over their appreciation of the sitcom “Seinfeld.”

Meis said it’s also important for her to be able to laugh at herself. She said she recently found a photo of herself from high school, in which she has gelled hair, braces and rolled-up jeans.

Meis said her husband, usually quick to comment on any situation, took one look at the photo and said, “I don’t even know what to say.”

— Chris Rhatigan

Iowa City Press-Citizen -- March 12, 2009