No laughing matter!

I know it seems like it should be easy not to laugh at your kid when they are upset, but it isn't always.  Sometimes it is really hard.

My shy child was in Math Olympiads one year.  He really loved it, but a few weeks into the program he came home crying.
"I can't be in Math Olympiads anymore."
What?  Why?  I finally coaxed the following explanation from him...
"I farted in class and everyone laughed."
Oh, honey... No one will even remember by next week.
(Insert story about a parent's embarrassing public fart to make him feel better.)
"But the teacher told me if I farted again, I couldn't come back."
Okay, no way is that the whole story...  Tell me 'exactly' what happened.
"I accidentally farted in class and it was really loud and everyone couldn't stop laughing.  The teacher was trying to get everyone to pay attention again, so she told me that if I had to fart again, I had to leave."
Honey, I think the teacher (who had a heavy French accent) was trying to say, If you need to fart again, step out of the classroom for a moment so as not to cause a disruption.  And then come back in.

I really felt bad that he was so upset, so I really tried hard not to laugh.
But it was REALLY hard.