"Laugh, and the world laughs with you..."

My last post kind of kept me in the doldrums for a while, but I am fighting my way back with humor. I love to laugh, preferring comedies to tragedies (let’s face it, life is serious enough), and I use humor to lighten up even the most stressful of times. And although humor never solves problems, laughing at the every day trials and tribulations always reduces my “stress of the moment”, and relieving tension in the mind brings calmness of spirit.

I am also happy to report that motherhood, along
with age, seems to have increased my sense of humor.
Sometimes even the strain brought on by the day-to-
day struggles
with work and children can be funny,
if you look at it right. All it takes is that first little smile, secretly shared between husband and wife, and the tantrum of the minute becomes comical. And experts have touted the effectiveness of a good chuckle for years. “Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.” (Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.) Laughter calms you, affects your body's ability to fight off illness, gives you that "feel-good" sensation that things like exercise and chocolate give you (but without the strain or the guilt), and it helps to protect one of your major organs-your heart.

So, my friends, I am going to try to improve your health this evening by sharing some recent excerpts from my own life that
you might enjoy.
(WARNING: I start off with a bit of potty talk...)
A conversation with my son after he took the dog outside to do “his business”:

“Mom, you won’t believe this but Uno went both ways, pee and poop, but he keeps trying to lick his butt.”
Well, with our longhaired dog that can only mean one of two things, A) He has an itch, or (and most likely) B) There is something left over from his recent elimination outing. I carefully lifted his tail to take a peek, hoping that my suspicions were wrong-no such luck.

“What’s that?” My son was pointing at, well, I will spare you the details...I was still holding my dog’s tail. “Quick, get a napkin.”
“Where are they?”

Are you kidding me? My son sets the table so I know he knows where the napkins are. I  am half squatting, still holding the dog’s tail in the air. “In the napkin holder.”
“There aren’t any.”
“Look in the cupboard quickly!”

Miraculously my son found ‘a’ napkin but unfortunately this was the wrong tool for the job. Uno dutifully sat while I went hunting for a comb and another napkin, and as I was helping him out, I glanced at his face-Uno's eyes were half closed and he had this calm, loving look of appreciation. I know my kids never looked at me that way after a butt wipe!

And speaking of the dog, you might remember an old post of mine that talked about an incident between my dog and his beloved pillow. After my dog’s affair to remember, we have not seen “it” since. I mean it hasn’t appeared when we scratch his tummy(and it often did), and he hasn’t done the nasty to anything or anybody. I think he scared himself, but my husband thinks he got it out of his system. (My daughter now thinks he broke it…)

You might also remember a post about my son and his endless questioning, especially some questions pertaining to super heroes. Well, he got a new super hero poster for Christmas, so once again I am being quizzed right before I turn out his light.

“Mom?”
“Yes dear.”
“Which super hero do you think is the scariest?”

I looked at the poster and frankly all of the characters looked a little freaky in one way or another... But was this a trick?

“Are they all good?”
“Yes, but which is the scariest.”
Hmm… “Silver Surfer. I think Silver Surfer is pretty scary.”
“Oh…”

Obviously my son doesn’t agree with me, because the next night I am asked if I am sure about my choice, and since I am never one to second guess myself (and because I want the conversation to end so he can get to sleep) I hold fast to my decision.

So far we are on day four of the questioning, and each day I have to say why Silver Surfer is scarier than one of the thirty other super heroes on this poster. And he now wants to know which "girl" superhero I want to be! Wait until I talk to Santa!

Now my very own superman, more commonly known as my husband, has been experiencing some strange bodily changes as he gets older that I don’t really want to know about but he feels he should tell me anyway.

We are both in the bathroom getting ready for bed and my husband is examining something in the mirror.

“Look at this gray hair!”
“What gray hair?”
“The one on top of my shoulder.”
“On top of your shoulder?”

Ok, so he might have piqued my curiosity a little. I was even thinking Ripley’s might appreciate a call about this one.

“It’s about three inches long!”
He pulls on the hair so I can get a better look
“Can you cut it for me?”


Gross! I will look at it but I draw the line when it comes to husband hair removal! Besides, I may not be an expert at shoulder hair, but if you cut it won't it grow back again, just like head hair?
“Just pull it out.”
“No! It will hurt!”

Men... If only they knew what we women go through!

And last but not least, a discussion between my husband and daughter concerning what she was doing in gym that I found very blog worthy.

“So what did you do in gym today?”
“We are learning how to play basketball.”
“You know how to play basketball.”
“No, I don’t know the rules and stuff.”
“Oh, so they are teaching you how to dribble and pass?”
“Today we were working on layoffs.”
“Layoffs?”
“Yes, you use layoffs to get the ball in the basket.”

My husband and I exchanged a "look."

“Oh, wait, you mean lay-ups.”
“That’s what I said.”

Yes, of course you did-daddy and I must be hearing things. I did read that hearing is the first to go in the "elderly, or is it your sanity? (Personally, I'll take the first choice...)

I thought I would borrow and idea from Kelly at My Voice, My View and leave you with the poem Solitude, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox-
this very famous poem is where my title is from... Here's hoping you get a little laughter in your day!

Laugh, and the world laughs with you:
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth
Must borrow its mirth,
It has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound
To a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure
Of all your pleasure,
But they do not want your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all;
There are none to decline
Your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by;
Succeed and give,
And it helps you live,
But it cannot help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train;
But one by one
We must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.