As the kids get older, I struggle with how much information about them to include in publicly available blogs. Although I may continue to post stories here from time to time, I am no longer maintaining this as an active blog because I wish to keep my children's childhoods for them rather than providing them for public consumption.

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Joy Diet: Laughter

This week of "The Joy Diet", Martha Beck instructs us to laugh at least 30 times a day.

I must confess that I haven't been counting my laughs. Although, I do think counting my laughs with a manual counter might increase my laughs. Instead, I have been focusing on finding the laughs that I have been missing.

As I mentioned last week, motherhood has brought my serious persona to the fore. And, three 2-year olds in the house is enough to make anybody crazy if they take it too seriously. I have been letting the chaos get to me.

2-year olds are silly beasts. They don't know enough to follow conventions, they do what comes into their heads without regard to what society views as right or normal. Some of what they do is dangerous and really needs to be shut down. Some of what they do is funny the first time, but sure to be annoying the 95th time, so a moderated response is required. But, a lot of what they do is just silly.

My life is busy and my list of "should do"s is long. Too often, when one or more of the kids is up to something that is just funny, I don't take the time to enjoy it because I am too worried about getting something done.

My challenge to myself this week has been to take the time to notice the silly things and enjoy them. And, most importantly, to let the laugh out - choosing the laughter over the impatience. I don't know if this is getting me to my 30 laughs a day, but I have noticed a few things.
  • I enjoy the kids more.
  • The chores don't get done quite so quickly, but I don't mind them so much.
  • I remember the silly things more than the "developmental milestones" or annoying things when I am reporting a few of the day's events to my husband, so I get to relive the silliness.
  • It doesn't take more than a moment to let the laugh out.
  • The kids seem to enjoy it when I laugh.
Of all the elements of The Joy Diet that my life needs, this is the one it needs most. With enough laughter, I will be able to face the things that need to be done and the things I want to do with more ease. And, more ease is always good.

I used to notice the absurd in everything. It is harder to do now that my responsibilites are greater, but it is more important than ever.
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1 comment:

becky nielsen said...

Oh, boy! With three 2 year olds, you'd better take advantage of all the laughing you can get! And they will surely provide it, along with every obstacle in the book to getting things done.

Congratulations on placing more emphasis on enjoying them than making sure the "to-do" list is completed! I notice with my 4 yo grandson how much he loves it when I laugh with him. It really does change the whole relationship - I didn't do that often enough with my kids because I felt so much pressure as a single parent. But I've found that with my grandchildren, it makes all the difference in the world. Course, it is a lot easier being the grandparent than the parent. so I'm sending you big kudos!

November 17, 2009 at 8:47 AM

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