Stress....we all have it, own it, live in it, swim in it and some even love it. That's a commonality we all share. We also have humor. Some have lost it, some never had it, some don't like it and some live in it. I personally love it. Laughter is the best medicine and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
This last few months have been wrought with stress, anxiety and even some depression. With our the diagnosis of Colby it's a bit more than I felt I could take. But....I had to remember to laugh, because that's what I do. That's who I am. That's what I love. I love to laugh with people, at them and despite of them.
Jessi. That child more than any of my other children has been gifted with laughter, and being able to make others laugh. Her self made movies on my ipad usually bring people to tears, happy tears. I seriously need to upload some of them to YouTube and watch the world laugh with us. She wanders around the house talking to herself and if you listen closely enough you will not be able to help yourself...she is just too funny.
The other day Isaac was throwing Brynlee around. Yes, literally. He is almost 15 and loves to wrestle, and Brynlee is just too tempting a target. Who wouldn't want a live, wriggly little thing to throw, toss and jostle? Sometimes she laughs, sometimes she doesn't. Just the other day she learned a new word. We were all in my bedroom and Isaac comes barreling in with Brynlee held high above his head. He throws her down on the bed and is about to attack when she puts up her tiny hand in front of his face and yells "STOP!". We all stopped what we were doing and burst out laughing. We had no idea she could say this word let alone us it in context. Even Isaac loved it. Of course then everyone had to torture her in various ways for the next 10 minutes trying to get the same response. Funny to some, maybe not her though....
Driving home from Walmart yesterday. Being in the car is so dang funny. You see people picking their noses, singing at the top of their lungs, talking to themselves, yelling at their kids, fighting with each other, you name it. Our car always has a "circus" feel and I am sure is very entertaining for anyone sitting next to us at a light. Well, there we were next to Storm Mountain Park waiting to turn left. Megan glanced down at the car next to us and the lady glanced back up at her. She gave Megan a death look. Megan automatically assumed she was a snob.
"Mom, that lady just glared at me, like geez, what did I do but look at her. What a jerk..."
"Come on Meg, she might be a snob, but maybe she's tired, or stressed, or just got bad news. You don't know..."
As we are having this conversation we see a little person in back seat, yelling, laughing, shouting..and I thought, boy do I know how you feel...
Then, all of a sudden we see these little feet. Clearly there was another child we didn't see there and he/she had their feet all the way in the air. He was also sitting backwards and upside down. That kiddo was in a position to put their feet flat on the back window. We all saw it at the same time and I said...
"Well, clearly that child isn't restrained properly..."
Laughter, loud and from every person in my car. I am sure she could have heard it. But it was so funny I couldn't help it. Maybe because too many times have I glanced in my rear view mirror to see any number of body parts that shouldn't be visible if the child were restrained correctly. Butts, legs, backs and of course feet. Maybe it was because too many times have I been so tired I thought, "I don't care what you do, JUST BE QUIET!". Maybe too many times has someone else looked at me and thought, "Wow, what a snob" When in fact I am just too dang tired to smile. Maybe...
Laughter is the best medicine. I know people who have forgotten this. I know people who never knew it and I pity them. I laughed when Polly told me she took a nose dive at school while several young kids looked on with pity. I laugh when I think about the time I fell ALL the way down the stairs at my mom's house, with my dad looking on saying "are you okay?". I laugh all the time when my kids say something funny, even if it's inappropriate. I laugh knowing that Bethany Schumann has an incredible sense of humor that I didn't even know existed, and that she laughs at me as I tell her I would starve if I had to eat out of her pantry... like, where's the ding dongs woman??? I just love to laugh. Bring on the funny, I am all for it!
