When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried? Has it been a while?
I’ve been thinking about the concept of fun this week.
Firstly, going through the photo albums of the kids when they were younger, I was struck by their huge smiles. They simply looked joyous in every shot. A little bit of that is lost as they get older. Maybe they are more self-conscious, more thoughtful, but gee there is something to be said for that innocent happiness of the early childhood years.
Then I read this piece by Kate Hunter on Mammamia talking about when was the happiest, most fun time of your life? Kate asked the question after she saw a telegram from Peter Sellers to Spike Milligan begging for a chance to reunite the goons because he wanted a chance to “have some real fun again”.
This morning I watched the Today Show celebrate 30 years of being on television by reuniting some of the previous hosts, news readers and weathermen. The jokes were flying thick and fast and by gosh it looked like everyone had always had a ball working on this program. I know it mustn’t have always been a bed of roses (and the early starts have to be a killer) but there was a lot of laughter and happy nostalgia as the bloopers played.
It reminded me how easy it is to lose the fun in everyday life.
The busyness, the worries, the obligations tend to overwhelm. There is little time to stop and enjoy the silliness, the ridiculous situations we endure.
I’m going to endeavour to laugh out loud a LOT in the next two weeks. I’m going to foster an environment of laughter, where there is time for the comedic comeback and the creative collaboration.
There will be bonus points for tear inducing humour that creates a belly laugh and a side-ache of happy pain.
This is such a timely post for me. Have recently weathered the news that darling daughter’s father is more fun than I am. I know it sounds a bit childish, but it really bothered me. I think my kids deserve a more fun mum. I’m happy, really happy, but always preoccupied with the responsibilities of work and life. I will join the belly laugh challenge, even if people think I’m crazy! x
I just think it is so easy to get caught up in everything that is going on and forget to plan for some fun times. Like you I get preoccupied and I just need to remember their childhood is disappearing, I need to schedule some serious fun stat.
So understand what Rachel just wrote.As mums we seem to be the ones who are preoccupied with so much that we do forget to have fun with our kids.
My favourite times are when I have a laugh till you cry moment with my girl.The sound of her laughter makes my heart smile just as it did when she was a bub all those years ago.
Thankyou for reminding me to take a break from the serious,from the trying to solve everything,from the what will I do ifs and aim for more of those belly laugh times.
Today I volunteered as usual with the lovely oldies at the nursing home.We laughed so much as we played ball games and told silly jokes and for that time I felt honoured to be part of their happiness.The joy I felt as I looked around at their beaming smiles and mums happy face made me,for the first time since she went in there,feel it is ok.
Even though they may have dementia and are not the same as they once were they were still able to have fun and laugh.
In the end when all is said and done and all the silly worries have been and gone,what more could we ask for our loved ones.
I love that there was fun and laughter in the nursing home, and so much credit to you for the volunteer work you do helping to bring that joy to the lovely oldies.
You know Janine, if asked when was the most fun time of my life, I would definitely say my 20’s. Some single years, some years in a relationship but party, party, party. Now I’m in my late 40’s with an 8yo girl and 6yo boy and this time doesn’t even compare to back then. These times are hard and stressful but I have never smiled to myself as much as I do when I think about a quirky little thing they do or the absolute hilarious things my 6yo boy comes out with. Nor does it compare to the proud feelings I have for my little girl who is so brilliant. Different kind of fun. These are hard times now with moments of sheer brilliance thrown in for good measure. Great post!
Anne xx
The photo albums reminded me of some of those funny sayings and quirky moments of early childhood.Ilove that you are able to enjoy that fun even in the middle of the challenges.
Sometimes we get so caught up in our day to day lives, that we forget to have fun. I spent an hour last night looking at crazy cat & dog videos. After a stressful couple of weeks, it felt really good to laugh!
my 11-year-old and i were howling with laughter the other night when i was reading to him, and put in different words. of course he can read, and we’d read the book before, but we just had a laughing fit. so much fun. making time to read to him is hard, but we keep trying. we both enjoy it.
hope you have lots of fun this weekend!
The last time I laughed til I cried was on a girls night out. This is why I love them so much. 🙂
But I’ve also had great moments with my boys, like watching something funny on TV and we’re all giggling along with each other. They’re special times, that’s for sure. I love the sound of my kids laughter.
I think Ann from Domesblissity said it right when she said we have a ‘different’ kind of fun – we have more responsibility now we’re older so the opportunity for spontaneous fun doesn’t occur as often. See? Youth really is wasted on the young! LOL.
Great post!
I was near tears the other night. My 18-yrold daughter is hilarious when she mimics me. It cracks me up. I guess if you can laugh at yourself, you’ll always be entertained. I thought I spent too much of her young life mothering and not laughing. But I think worrying was for naught. We laugh every chance we get. 🙂
I remember asking my mother when I was younger “mom, when do I get time in life to be happy? – first I’m in school, then I’m in college, then I work, then I have kids and have to take care of them, then I’m old and then I die” – apparently I was a very cynical child. But you know, you’re right – looking back through albums and stories there are a lot of good times in between all of that. I support the effort to laugh more in the next two weeks.