Laughter

We do a lot of laughter and silliness in this house. I believe that a sense of humor and laughter is so incredibly important in all areas of life, and especially in a relationship/family. We have our less-than-perfect moments, of course, but we have a lot of fun, and that makes me (us) happy. I don't leave out entire posts about Kaitlyn's latest tantrums in order to make our life look perfect, I just try to keep a lot of this positive is all.

As I get older, I realize more and more how much my life is improved by laughter and an "oh well" attitude. Kaitlyn spills half a bottle of shampoo on the carpet - laugh or get mad? Laugh. Austen spills Riley's water dish and tracks it through the whole kitchen right after it's been mopped - laugh or cry? Laugh, because that's funny when you think about it.

There are also those "cry or shrug moments." The ones you can't really laugh at because they really aren't funny, but you step back and think, "Is getting upset going to change anything?" Austen drops Kaitlyn's home-made ornament (from last year, so irreplaceable) on the floor and it shatters into a million pieces - shrug or cry? I'm sad about that one, but if I don't shrug I'll cry. ;-)

I think it is Jimmy Buffet who says, "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane." How right he is. Life is so much about choices. Happiness is a choice, positivity is a choice, and reactions are choices. I will never claim to be perfect, I will always admit to being a work in progress...aren't we all? When I preach about these things, I do it knowing that I'm not always the best role model for them, but I also know how much I've improved in these areas because I've consciously worked on them.

There are things that happen in life that are going to make us sad. Save your sadness for the "big deals." We can't be happy 100% of the time (and I believe that if one thinks they can, it ends up backfiring), but many of us can be happy most of the time. I have learned to take more deep breaths, smile more, laugh more, and shrug more. And when I do have a particularly negative day, I make sure to allow myself to start fresh with the next one, instead of feeling like a failure that I vented too much, complained too much, or didn't have enough patience. 

I'll end this with some fun pictures, and you can bet that there was a healthy amount of laughter behind the camera: 

Jeff grew a beard in November

On the last day, he shaved it into a mustache for work. He did what any self-respecting hairy guy would do, and had some fun with different styles in the process

Laughter and fun in the tub while Daddy was shaving

While this picture grosses me out, it also makes me love him that much more. He makes me laugh :-)

Have a great day, folks!