31 Days Closer to Your Kids: Laugh
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e e cummings
We like to laugh around here. A lot.
Why wouldn’t we when there’s so much to laugh about?!
I’m kidding, of course. Laughter doesn’t always come easily, especially when life gets hard. When sickness comes. When tests loom. When wisdom teeth need to be extracted in a couple of weeks. (Oh, yes they do!)
But for some reason, my family loves to laugh in the midst of it all. (Last night said soon-to-be-without-wisdom-teeth daughter was looking up You Tube videos of people coming out of anesthesia. Hysterical!)
I grew up in a house of laughter and, believe me, there were plenty of years when we didn’t feel like laughing. When deep losses pressed in, when droughts came, when money was tight. But my parents spent time laughing with us, joking us through our teenage years, cajoling us despite our girly mood swings.
Thankfully, I married a very funny man who makes me laugh every single day. (In fact, as I was writing this post he called me from work and said something that totally made me laugh.) His delicious sense of humor is one of the things I most appreciate about him.
A few reasons to laugh with your kids:
- It shows them that life doesn't need to be taken so desperately seriously all the time.
- God wants us to be filled with joy. Laughter models that kind of joy for our kids.
- It helps us remember that things aren't always as bad as they seem.
- It's FUN! And having fun with our kids is always a good thing.
When I talk to my girls about the type of guy they might marry someday, aside from being someone who loves Jesus more than he loves them, I tell them to marry a man who makes them laugh. Life is stormy enough on its own, but there is also plenty of joy to be found. Laughter is the buried treasure among life’s stormy seas.
Laughter is a gift. So pass that gift on to your children and find something to laugh with them about today.
Question: Do you laugh with your family? What makes you laugh the most?
