How Come It's Not Funny When It Happens To Me?

Yesterday was a busy day running to the store and later to pasar malam to buy groceries. When I finally got to rest, my body crashed. So it turned out to be a computer-less night for me. Instead I grabbed off my shelf a Baby Blue's Scrapbook "Motherhood Is Not For Wimps". I love BABY BLUEScomic stips. It's so hilarious to read about Zoe's and Hammie's antics. Parents will feel an instant connection to the ups and downs of this McPherson family. In a way, it's a general representation of our parenting world.

For example, there was this strip where the father is trying to pick a new pair of glasses. He tries one on which he likes. He then calls for his kids (QC - quality control) who runs and jumps on him. Now wearing a distorted mangled pair of glasses, he turns back to the sales person to ask "Do you have anything in a sturdier frame?"
(This is so similar to what I went through about a year back. Instead of donning a lightweight frameless pair of glasses which made me look good, I had to opt for a thick, sturdy, "amah" looking pair. Looking at my old mangled pair, the sales person quickly convinced me I was making the right decision.)

Here's another example. Daryl comes home to find a very tired mommy. He asks what's wrong and she says that they just finished Zoe's homework and it took two and a half hours. Daryl is shocked that it takes that long. Mom explains "Thirty minutes of homework, and two hours of trying to get her to sit still." In the background is Zoe up on the sofa yelling, "Wanna' see me do a somersault from up here?"
(I'm sure many of you are nodding your head going "yea, been there, done that.")

After having my "feel good" time, I wondered to myself "So clever to laugh at this comic family, how come I don't laugh when my kids do the same things to me?" Humor seems to have ran out the door the moment toddlerhood walked in. I really take my hats off to parents who can face "geram" (angry) moments with a laugh and smile instead of the usual "Grrrrrr.... yell,yell, yadda, yadda, yadda."
But I believe it's important to have humor in our parenting. Like the good Dr. Larry Keefauver says, "don't major in the minors." It's true isn't it? If we react to minor things like it's something major, then what are we going to do when we actually have something major? And like the aedes mosquito, who we just learned have built tolerances to survive harsher conditions, our children will also built immunities against our daily outbursts. They won't be able to distinguish between the minors and the majors and we would have lost our effectiveness as parents.

So parents, let's seek out our long hidden humorous side. That's another reason why I love to read BABY BLUES as it reminds me that parenting CAN be humorous. I am in the process of trying to obtain copies of several Baby Blues Comic Books to be available on my bookshop. I will inform you guys if it happens. It would make a very nice gift for a friend or even for yourself as it is such a stress buster. In the meantime, you can access the Baby Blues website where they have an archive of their comic strips.

In the meantime here's a picture of Damus and his powder-capade. One of those rare moments I actually took time to consider the humour in the situation.