Contagious Yawns

Madison was rather tired, and yawning in the car. Sure enough - Daddy caught the yawn. Then Mommy did! Uh-oh! It's spreading like a virus!

Out of curiosity, I've looked up "contagious yawns" and discovered that there is a reason we can't stop ourselves from yawning when we see someone else do it. You can blame mirror neurons. I'm not entirely sure what they are either, but everyone has them. According to a recent Finnish study,* even chimpanzees apparently have them: did you know that if a chimpanzee sees you yawn, it is also likely to do the same thing?

This is not, by the way, ever mentioned in the Planet of the Apes movies. Although we haven't seen the most recent one yet. Perhaps that's how they get all the rampaging monkeys to calm down: put on large jumbotrons images of people yawning. Soon, all the monkeys will see that and have no choice but to yawn - and soon they'll realize how tired they are - and soon the entire city of San Francisco will be filled with sleeping monkeys.

[Insert your own joke about San Francisco here.]

Madison has caught on to the contagious yawn concept: she was doing several yawns on purpose. We'll call these "faux yawns." Each one had a purpose: to get Mommy and Daddy to yawn. And whether they wanted to or not, soon everyone in the car was yawning. We got home nearly asleep, having just barely survived a major yawn-fest! Forget Nyquil, sleeping pills, or watching C-SPAN: the best method for getting some rest is a major yawn-fest!

__________________

*I'm actually really delighted that Finland has researchers working on this important issue. What a job. Someone walks up to you and asks you what you do for a living, and then you tell them. And then they yawn. Which is, of course, a good thing. What would you call this profession, anyway? A yawnologist?

UPDATE: an important groundbreaking study from the United Kingdom has confirmed that dogs have mirror neurons too, as they can catch yawns also. This is huge! That means it is spreading, sort of like that upcoming movie "Contagion." Soon, cats will be yawning, and then hedgehogs and wombats. Yes, every species on this earth will have to walk around in biohazard suits, not looking at anyone's faces, especially near bedtime. Hopefully these Finnish scientists are racing for a cure.

They... could be our only hope.

__________________

"Yawn." - Max Shreck