Find the humor

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. After having seven snow days, the kids were sick, then I got sick...I found myself losing my sense of humor.

It was beyond a mild cabin fever. A friend's facebook status read, "I'm starting to feel like a caged animal." I wouldn't have been surprised if some of my mommy friends started a riot if we had ANOTHER school day...my outlook was becoming rather bleak.

And it was during this time that I started to notice my children's sense of humor (ironically, I was starting to lose mine during this time frame). My five-year-old daughter is really developing some great comedic timing. 

I've successfully convinced Sophia that she's not a grown-up until she's 30.
"Mom, when I'm 31, can I have my own computer and a phone with games on it?" she asked.
"Yes. But you'll have to buy your own," I told her, barely looking up from my work.
She said, "Well, I'll need more MONEY!"
"Yup. You'll need a job," I stated matter-of-factly.
"......And I can drive a car..." she hesitantly said with a giant smile.

          Wow, I walked right into that one, didn't I?

My husband and I view life differently. He's a Big Picture kinda guy. He communicates his day through headlines and generalities. I'm an analyst, detailing things to an annoying level. And I LIVE in the details-numbers, percentages, action items. My husband is an ever-loving optimist, even to a fault. I know he'd describe me as a pessimist. But I prefer to call myself a realist.

But it's our differing perspectives that provide balance - both to each other and in our home. I have to remember that even though seven snow days+sick kids+sick mom leads me unravelling and running around like Chicken Little shouting the alarm "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" It's really not. Sure, the house might not be as clean as I'd like it. But that's okay. It's about the big picture.

My husband's great at quietly reminding me, "Are the kids going to remember how clean our house was or the time we spent playing with them on the floor?"

And perhaps instead of stopping to smell the roses as the cliché goes, maybe I need to pause and find the humor. There's numerous studies on the benefits of laughing. It reduces stress. A good sense of humor may help stave off dementia in older adults. It enhances the learning environment in the classroom. It improves the immune system. It might even help prevent workplace burnout.

So, find the humor in your day. I aim to find more humor in my everyday life by lightening up my frustrations with work, the house, the kids, the husband. Looking for a place to start? Try viewing life from the perspective of a five-year-old. Life is full of wonderment, adventure, magic...and everything is funny.