Most of my life is trying to make my readers (aka you guys) laugh, but have you ever thought about what makes me laugh? I mean, I smile to myself when I write my posts and cute things my kids say make me giggle all the time, but it’s rare that I’m rolling on the floor in one of those fits of laughter when you can barely catch your breath.
As part of my participation in Aetna’s Mindful 30, they are giving me daily tips of how to be more mindful in my life, which they say helps release stress.
Today’s tip is all about laughing.
“Life is all about noticing the little things and finding the joy in them. Why? Because you’re present in your body when you laugh. And laughing releases your natural pain killing endorphins, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones and boosts immune function.”
Sounds good to me.
For the past week, I have been paying attention to what makes me laugh and revisiting or retelling those moments to make me laugh again. Now, it’s important to note that what might be funny in the moment, may not be nearly as funny in the retelling (or at least to the people I am telling it to), but I tried not to let that stop me.
I also realized that sometimes the things that make you laugh the hardest are the things you are not supposed to laugh about at all.
For instance, Mazzy, for all her poise and beauty, can be somewhat of a klutz. She also has a bad case of ants in the pants. Very often when you think she is sitting in a chair, she will suddenly fall off the side onto the ground. Or when she is walking through our living room, a room she has walked through a billion times, she will veer unexpectedly left and crash right into a wall.
Mazzy doesn’t have any real balance issues that I can tell. Just that she is usually thinking about things other than her limbs. Or that sometimes her legs move as a completely separate entity from her body.
She also overdramatizes injuries so often that Mike and I will barely glance up when we hear her scream, “OWWWWW!!!!”
We assume she tripped over her own foot while standing still.
Case in point, about a week ago, we were selling Girl Scout Cookies in our building. We had sold a bunch of boxes to various neighbors and all was going fine. But then I guess boredom set in and antsiness took over.
While we were standing in the doorway at the home of an elderly couple who I had never seen before, Mazzy gave her spiel and I started making small talk as the woman took out her wallet.
Suddenly, there was a large bang followed by an “OWWWWWWW!!!!” coming from the floor behind me. I turned around to find Mazzy sprawled out on her back on the ground, leaflet and collection money scattered around her. Mind you, we were not moving and there was absolutely nothing in the hallway to trip her up. It was just Mazzy falling like Mazzy does because her feet crossed before her brain caught up with them.
I was not concerned but the whole thing looked so dramatic to the couple that the woman yelled, “OH MY GOD!!!!!” like you would if someone had cracked their head open and needed to be rushed to the hospital. They must have thought she was having a sudden seizure or something because who just falls over backwards in the middle of selling Girl Scout Cookies? My first instinct was to laugh just because of the drama of it all but after a strange look from the older gentlemen, I stifled my smile, said she was just tired and collected our money before scurrying back to our apartment.
A few days later at dinner with friends, the topic of klutziness came up and I retold the story. Halfway through, I started laughing and just about lost it when I realized how horrible the fall must have looked to our neighbors and how I must have seemed like the worst mother ever for my unconcerned and very delayed reaction. I could barely finish the story because I was laughing so hard. Our friends started laughing too because laughter like that is contagious and they have kids too and totally get the impulse to laugh at your child’s minor misfortunes sometimes.
So, we all shared a good laugh and yes, it felt like an amazing endorphin release.
Sorry, Mazzy for laughing at your expense but I’ll take my comic relief where I can get it!
I’m not the only one who has laughed when their kid fell, right?
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This post was sponsored by Aetna, who believes health is about the body and the mind. Stress can affect emotional and physical health, and reducing stress can boost wellbeing. As part of their #Mindful30 challenge, the views and opinions expressed in my posts on the topic of mindfulness are my own, not Aetna’s. To learn more about mindfulness, visit aetnamindfulness.com.
You are not the only one! My daughter is the same age as Harlow but is exactly like Mazzy. How can you fall off a chair you were just sitting on? My daughter says she doesn’t know…. 😉
I laugh at my 2 year old all the time, it’s the only way to keep my sanity at some points.
She walked into a parked car today on the way to daycare. It’s there every day, this is nothing new and *bang* right into the side of it. Like, for real?!? LOL
This story had me cracking up while reading at my desk :)…both the telling and also the part about you retelling. I think I would have done the exact same thing! I laugh at my son on a daily basis when he falls, etc, but thankfully he’s too young to really know I’m laughing AT him yet (16 months).
You are totally not the only one!!! lol I laugh at my son when he does stuff like this. Usually it ends up making him laugh too! Now my nephew on the other hand gets embarrassed easily and will yell “It’s not funny!” We usually have to hide our laughs with him so it doesn’t hurt his feelings!
I was recording my husband and son playing catch with a football a couple years ago. My husband threw it and my son caught it…with his face. Not only did I laugh, but it was caught on video that I laughed. Not just a chuckle either. So you’re definitely not the only one.
Haha haha ???????? these kind of situations is what makes me laugh the hardest!! In always laughing at my 18mo when he’s falling or walking into the wall. It’s just too funny!!
My then-10 year old daughter walked into glass dividing two sets of doors at the mall. She hit with a big bang and then made a squeaky noise as her face slid down the glass. After a quick look to make sure she was okay, she, her brother and I laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. She even left a face smear on the glass.
This one just made me laugh, hard.
LOL – we still laugh hysterically about it.
I have a video on my phone where my 16 month old walks into a doorjam and falls on his butt. I find it hilarious and could watch it 10 times in a row. Luckily, he thinks it’s funny too, so we watch it together and say “uh oh!”
My 2 year old fell off the toilet while turning around to try and examine how many poops she made. She fell off the toilet sideways and head first. Looked terrible, but it was hilarious…
When my two year old has a complete meltdown over something silly (is there any other kind), my natural response is to laugh at her. Sometimes I have to turn around so she doesn’t see. I’m not sure why this happens – maybe there’s nothing to do but laugh??
Love this! I still can’t tell the story of my daughter running into the fridge door/combo-ed with being hit by the door as hubs opened it without hysterical, hyena-style laughter, and it’s been about ten years!!! Right there with you!
Like Mazzy, when I was a child, I walked into doorways and fell All. The. Time. My parents took me to a neurologist. Diagnosis….my brain worked faster than my feet! We still laugh about it 46 years later!
Is it bad that I lose it laughing when my two year old physically abuses his dad? I mean it is laugh out loud funny when the kids do amusing falls but the way a toddler can inflict real pain on a full-grown man gets me every single time…. For some reason hubs finds this “insensitive”. Go figure.
I’m positive we have all had these moments. However, I find the moments in which I am recalling those funny moments (even those not involving the children) the most hilarious. Then you get on a roll and can’t get the thought out of your head and can’t stop laughing…..then you can’t breath and try so hard to get the thought out of your head but cant. Those belly laughs just feel awesome!!
Not gonna lie, I was giggling as I read the Mazzy story.
Just tonight my husband and I were working out and my toddler was running wild and my husband threw a giant exercise ball at him and he collided with it and fell flat on his butt! Just like a YouTube video! We both laughed and then so did our son (because he’s so used to laughing at himself because we always do)! It’s never too early to learn to not take yourself too seriously!
No, you’re not alone. I laughed when my toddler fell face first this morning. Unfortunately we were in public around a number of old ladies so I had to quickly turn my outburst of laughter to a face of fake concern. She was fine.
Not only do I laugh at my kids falling, but I chuckled at your story and all the comments that I read too! My daughter, like Mazzy, is a bit of a klutz (sadly, it’s a hereditary thing she got from me…). Last fall (she was 4 at the time), we were all at a park and she was walking on the path with my husband. She asked daddy to take a video of her doing twirls and she didn’t even get around once before she tripped over her feet and fell. To make it even better, you could hear her “oww” at the end of the video. She was perfectly fine and we all still laugh about it!
OH MY GOD!!! Warren does this! He’ll be sitting on the chair one minute and then the next, poof! He’s on the floor! Or he’ll be walking just fine and dandy from one room to the next and BAM! Right into a wall.
I do this myself, but since I didn’t push him out and we don’t share the same DNA, I can’t say that it’s inherited (other than maybe learned behavior ha ha), but yes, I laugh pretty hard when it happens (I do try to hold it in until he’s not looking at least – though I will admit sometimes, I’m not that good).