Laughing It Off Works Sometimes ~ By Jenn Whitmer

I love to laugh.  When I laugh, it is loud, almost obnoxious, and often contagious.  I think many things are funny, and I love laughing with others.  Although I think parenting is a joyful job, I don't always think of laughter.  I'm an "every moment is a teachable moment" kind of mom.  Find letters on the cereal box, apologize to the stranger at the park, talk about creation in the morning carpool; there's always an opportunity to teach our kids.  Sometimes this gets me into trouble, because I can get too serious about the lesson at hand.

Recently, my husband was working late, and I was bathing my three kids, aged five, four, and two, alone.  Things were not going smoothly.  No one had napped that day and everyone was on edge.  Holding my oldest son's towel, I asked him to get out of the tub.  He looked at me like I was speaking Flemish.  "Get out of the tub, son," I repeated, a bit irritated this time.  Again, I got a dumbfounded look in return, as if this request were strange and bizarre. "GET OUT OF THE TUB!"  Yes, I was yelling by this point.  My son changed from a blank stare to frozen with confusion.  In a nanosecond, I thought, "This is a brilliant child. How can he not understand this simple direction? He's not being defiant; he's looking literally confused.  How is this possible?"  Then I felt God whisper to me the absolute ridiculousness of the situation - my bright, naked, five-year-old, standing in the tub, was confused about what to do when bath time is over.  So I just had to laugh.  I put the towel over his head, roughed up his hair, and pushed him into the water as if we were at the pool.  We just fell apart into giggles.  I still don't know what the problem was, but I do know that my time bomb of anger was defused by a bit of playfulness. A much better alternative than the road of frustration and hostility we were on.  My son thought it was so funny that I pushed him, with his towel, into the tub.  We just laughed and laughed while we finished getting ready for bed.

So here's the point.  Parenting is serious business.  God has entrusted us with an amazing responsibility. Every moment is a teachable moment, and that moment with my son taught us both that it is good to laugh at yourself.  Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Sometimes we miss the forest for the trees.  My son didn't need me to teach him how to get out of the bath; I'm sure he'll remember how to do that when he's 30 years old.  Laughing at himself - having a cheerful heart of humility - that's the real lesson for him and for me.

~ Jenn Whitmer lives and laughs with her husband, two sons, and a daughter in St. Louis, Missouri.  Send email to Jennifer at jenniferwhitmer@gmail.com with any thoughts or questions.