RX: Mom Laughter

By: 
Lisa Ingebrand, Montgomery Messenger

Sometimes, you just need to laugh. 

I've been a mom for almost a decade now and have seen my kids do things I never knew were possible... like getting mastitis as a newborn, getting stuck in a chair, requiring "super" (fake) teeth because their baby teeth failed to grow in, having the backs of earrings grow INSIDE their earlobes... It's a never-ending list. 

I didn't know how little I knew until I became a mom.

And, honestly, after a rough day or two, I start to question myself.

Growing up, my brother and I never broke a bone, never had hoof and mouth disease, never struggled with a super-sensitive nose, and never puked all over the vegetable display at a grocery store. 

Those things just didn't happen. 

And, there's no set protocol for what to do after your child throws up over the beautifully laid out cases of broccoli and asparagus. 

Maybe my brother and I were lame. 

Maybe my parents parented better.

I don't know, but when a string of random, crazy things occur, I do stop and think, "Is this really my life?" 

Recently, I had one of the best, soul-healing conversations of my life. A group of mom friends got together for a casual visit. 

Thankfully, we're all past that stressful early stage of parenting during which you try to impress each other with parenting advice, strategies, and clean kids' clothes. Heck, now, if our kids wear underwear on a daily basis, we call it a win. 

It's a nice place to be. 

Reality of the difficulty and the pure craziness of parenting has not only set in, but has plowed us over--repeatedly. We are humble. We are willing to admit our mistakes and misgivings, and laugh about them.

Over a glass of wine or two, we spill our stories of our kids and our parenting whoopsies, not to diminish them, but to lift each other up and share in the wonderful hilarity of it all... and celebrate our survival (and the survival of our children). Here are a few good laughs (all people involved will remain anonymous):
One mom was enjoying an early spring day in her yard with her two young children. She was pulling weeds from the landscaping while the kids played tag on the swing set. Then, she overheard her young son inform his playmates that he was really thirsty and was going to get a drink from the hose. It took a few minutes before the mom processed the fact that the hoses weren't out yet, so she went to look for her son to see what he was doing. She found him drinking out of the sump pump hose. 

• Another mom recapped the story of her adventure to the movie theater with her kids. They went in to see "Dumbo" and she came out with a purse full of her three-year-old's vomit (the red-Icee-and-Sour-Patch-Kid kind). Not only that, but the theater seats and her mini van are also now stained a lovely red. And, she had to stick her hands into her "soupy" purse to find her keys!
 
• Then, there's the kid who was amazed by the laundry chute at his friends house and thought that his "laundry chute" was just covered up in his room... Turns out he stuffed his floor vent full of dirty and wet laundry (and proceeded to put the vent cover back on because he thought his family had the "fancy" kind of laundry chute. 

• Of course, there's the Bean Queen story... A young girl became obsessed with eating beans--brown beans, baked beans, frozen beans, canned bean, refried beans. That's all she wanted to eat for at least a week. Turns out, she had been informed that she'd be getting a tutor for summer, and she was trying to prove she didn't need help TOOTING. 

I'm so grateful for my wonderfully imperfect mom friends and their crazy wonderful kids. Parenthood isn't for the faint of heart, but it is for those who can love with their whole heart and laugh and laugh...

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