7/01/2009 - by Tyler Wirth,
Owner/Editor HumorInfusion.com
Parenting With
Humor
We’ve
all been there. Your child, that beautiful little person, has
done or said something that makes you wonder what the heck you
were thinking when you decided to become a
parent.
You
are sitting on the floor, surrounded by the chaos from
either a small child or a tornado - it’s hard to tell
which. You have a choice to make. You can yell, scream,
rant, rave, and generally spew negative energy…or you can
laugh. The power of laughter in the right context and
tone can change the mood from high stress to peaceful
calm, or at least defuse the situation. Take some
examples from my life.
I was in
a department store with my mother and my youngest child. While
we were looking at wallets, he spotted a bright red box within
his reach. Before I realized what he was doing, he pulled the
fire alarm. I was embarrassed and angry. The policeman who
confronted us when I confessed our role in the “emergency”
didn’t help matters any. But when he leaned down and told my
little guy very seriously that he should remember what he
learned in school about fire alarms, that little voice said,
“Hey, I’m two. I’m a visitor!” (This was his standard response
when visiting his sibling’s classroom.) The fireman was unable
to keep a straight face at that point and the little criminal
was released into our care.
I was at
home when I received this text from my son: I just ran the
mile. Asthma sucks. My teacher will be calling you because I
failed a science quiz. Note that he played the sympathy
card before giving me the bad news to soften me up.
My response? You don’t have asthma.
Even he had to chuckle at his inability
to make the ruse work.
The
other day in Target, two of my kids were fighting. They had
been fighting all day. I figured I had three choices: drag them
out of the store and come back later alone; yell at them,
embarrassing all of us; make them laugh. Josh, the youngest,
had just taunted his older brother, Jake* In response, Jake hit
Josh in the arm. Before the situation got entirely out of
control I decided to step in. “Do you know what the problem
really is?” I asked. They both looked at me quizzically.
“You,” I said to Josh, “keep being naughty and baiting your
brother… and you,” I pointed at Jake, “keep falling for it.”
They both grinned and laughed and the shopping trip was
saved.
My
oldest son gets incredibly annoyed with me. Before I allow him
to go to friends’ houses, I call to make sure parents will be
there. I always want to check out who he will be hanging out
with. This sets off his rants. I have to hear how I am too
overprotective and everybody else can do whatever they want.
After hearing the tirade numerous times, I finally told him the
truth. “You are my test child. I am making all of my mistakes
on you so that your brothers don’t have to go through this
hell. Suck it up.” At least now he complains with a smile,
knowing that there is actually a funny little truth in my
response.
The
bottom line is that silly faces, jokes, and the truth expressed
in a playful manner can make most situations more fun... or at
least more tolerable. Try it; you might be pleasantly surprised
at the results.
*Names
have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent
Humor
Infusion
Recommended
Reading:
Kids Who Laugh : How to Develop Your Child's Sense of
Humor ,
Call Me Dad, Not "Dude" ,
The World's Best Parenting Cartoons
Our goal at HumorInfusion.com is to help you
reduce stress, improve your health, gain self-esteem, and
increase your success. Join our
newsletter to learn more about the many ways you
can infuse more humor into your life and soon, these benefits
will be yours.
| 
