Keeping My Sense of Humor

"'Anndd wee mussttnn'tt looose ourr sensses of hummorr,' Mrs. Which said.  'Thee onnlly wway ttoo ccope withh ssometthingg ddeadly sseriouss iss ttoo ttry ttoo trreatt itt a llittlle lligghtly.'" ~ Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time p. 61

I have always loved this quote from A Wrinkle in Time.  I listened to it on audio last summer while we were driving to the beach and I have meant to track it down ever since.  Someone commented on Facebook yesterday that keeping our sense of humor is a key ingredient to older child adoptions.  I believe she was right.  When I start taking myself, or my kids too seriously things get bumpy pretty quickly.

I am trying to step back and watch my life from an outsider's perspective.  It is pretty funny to watch us get from our van to the pool for swimming lessons.  We pile out of the car like it was on fire, except for Nes, who I have convinced that he is the winner if he is the last one out.  Nes hops out at the very end and announces that he is the winner.  By the time he gets out we are strung across the entire parking lot, with at least on flip-flop and t-shirt strewn behind us.  I get out, shut all the doors, shake my head, and pick up all the goods we have left behind.  By the time I get into the pool, I find a pile of clothes in front of the locker room door, and no children in sight.  This is just one short snippet of what happens all day long.

I took Jubilee to the dentist for a tooth that was bothering her.  I'm not sure what she was expecting to happen, but she went in with a smile, and came out with a snarl.  She is still in bed sleeping off the Novocain.  She slunk out of the office, to the receptionist's surprise.  I smiled and said, "she doesn't like pain."  I try to remember that people have expectations about how we should behave, and apparently we should always be happy.  I guess it is courteous not to show your displeasure at having a needle stuck in your mouth causing your tongue to feel like it has grown three sizes.  Unfortunately, that is not at the top of my priority list for lessons on family life.

I am trying to help Jubilee see that there is humor in the trials she is facing.  She has no idea what is expected of her, so she gets offended when people laugh at her mistakes.  I try to point out that we all make mistakes.  She has younger siblings that make them thousands of times a day.  Sometimes they are funny, sometimes they are gross, but laughing helps.  One day we were having lunch at a Mexican restaurant in town.  The waiter was obviously new, and we were a big party.  He accidentally spilled salsa down Mads back.  She looked at me with a horrified look.  I just started laughing.  I didn't want her to get upset with the waiter, and I wanted him to know it was just an accident and we are very familiar with those.  I'm sure he got chewed out plenty of times that day, and I didn't want to add to it.  Mads still doesn't think it was all that funny, but if it had been BK she would have loved it.

I try very hard when I am on the receiving end of the trial to find the humor.  My dog for example, is getting lots of family chuckles.  I will have you all know, that we decided to have the surgery he needed, and God in His mercy had already healed his leg.  We only had to pay for the neuter.  Now that, is funny.  He also has a pink cast to boot.  Sure there are days when taking up smoking is very appealing, but laughter is so much cheaper.  I keep my friends around that always have a better story than I do.  You know, there is always someone out there who has something worse happening to them.  I am blessed to have my brother, my friend Heather, and most of my high school classmates to keep my laugh lines growing, and if they don't work P.G. Wodehouse always does the trick.