50 Parents Who Deserve The "Comedian Of The Year" Award (New Pics)

Not everyone is fortunate enough to grow up with parents who have a great sense of humor. But those who do, it turns out, have an advantage in life. Last year, researchers from Pennsylvania State University found that adults who grew up with funny parents are more likely to view their childhood experiences and their parents' parenting styles positively.

63% of the respondents who reported good relationships with their parents claimed that their parents used humor in their discipline. Only 3.7% said their parents didn't employ their funny bones in their parenting strategies.

Benjamin Levi, professor of pediatrics and humanities at Penn State College of Medicine and the lead author of the study, emphasized how this implies that humor can help us be better parents. "My hope is that people can learn to use humor as an effective parenting tool, not only to diffuse tension but develop resilience and cognitive and emotional flexibility in themselves and model it for their children," he said.

Life Coach Michelle Grosser notes how using humor can come in particularly handy when parenting toddlers. Dealing with a toddler tantrum is essentially a power play. So, instead of coming from a place of authority and ordering them to do something, make them think that it's fun to do things together.

"It's being silly – it's that pretending to brush the stuffed animals teeth while your 2 year old brushes her teeth. It is turning things into games or competition," Grosser writes. Your kid doesn't want to get into the car? Pretend to be a pilot. Kids don't want to get dressed for school? Make it into a competition of who can do it the fastest.

Why does humor work so well, especially with toddlers? According to the parenting experts at Nurtured First, play is like a language that toddlers can understand. Then, even explaining to your toddler the situations that play out in real life might be easier for them to digest.

"You might say something like, 'Mr. Giraffe is upset. He screams at his mom when he gets home from school. I wonder what Mr. Giraffe needs?'" they suggest saying. The toddler then may answer with something like, "He needs a snack."

Playfulness is also a great way to make your kid pay attention to something else. If a kid doesn't want to get into bed at night, suggest they do it like a bunny or a penguin. The parent can participate too: join your toddler in hopping like a bunny, waddling like a penguin, or stalking in like a cat. It's much more likely to put a smile on your toddler's face than make them continue the tantrum.

Playfulness and humor also help toddlers make sense of the world around them. Presenting these seemingly simple problems through the world of play makes them digestible for the toddler. Kids often play out real-life situations with their toys, be it a conflict at preschool or something that happened at home.

"Instead of having a tantrum, they can communicate what they need or express their fears through role-play, or release their emotions using a creative outlet like drawing," the parenting experts at Nurtured First write.

There's one thing to note here, though: humor and play should never be used to downplay a child's emotions or dismiss their opinions. It's about giving them a way to express their feelings and soften the defenses that a child and a parent put up during a conflict. Shared laughter is powerful between strangers, but it's even more important for good parent-child relationships.