An Egg and Spoon Race

This morning Josiah was marching around, boasting that he's the best in the world at egg & spoon races. Never mind the fact that he had never actually participated in such a race! After a nice little chat about the foolishness of pride and the excellence of humility, I decided to let him experience the difficulty of keeping a roly-poly egg on a nice little spoon while trying to travel at high speeds. Since the weather outside is a bit on the frightful side (and the fire--in our woodstove--is so delightful), we staged the race indoors: with empty plastic Easter eggs instead of the real thing. So much easier to clean up! :)

Josiah was originally holding the spoon in his hand as he raced...until his daddy showed him how much more "fun" it would be to hold the spoon in his mouth!
Of course, whatever Josiah did, David did as well...except the little wise guy realized that using his other hand to hold the egg on the spoon actually worked a lot better!
It was a nice diversion on a chilly, rainy day, to have such a fun activity inside! And it was a good reminder for me of the need for laughter and silliness in the life of a family. Which reminds me...

When we lived in Israel, a friend of mine was reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by the Coveys. I've never read this book (GASP! A parenting book I haven't read??? Quick, let me add it to my must-read list!!!)...but from what I remember from my friend, one of the habits is laughing together. I think at the time, I thought, "Laughter, schmaughter. Sure, it's good to have fun together, but really, we need to take this parenting thing SERIOUSLY...and not laugh away misbehavior! Discipline is the important thing!" Silly me. I had no idea how important fun and laughter would prove to be. What can I say? I was young...my firstborn son was young...and I had (and still have!) so much to learn in this parenting journey.

Now, however, I have seen over and over how a little bit of lightheartedness can turn the mood of a family from grumpiness to cheerfulness. In my role as a woman, wife, and mother, I know that many times I set the emotional temperature of the household...so I feel the need to grow in this area of joviality (is that a word?). But let me tell you--I have experienced many times when Jeff was the one to insert a joke, do something silly to crack us up, or otherwise make us laugh and change the mood. Even this morning, he demonstrated this when, after the good humor brought on by the egg & spoon race had diminished, Josiah and David were acting a little squirrelly. I wanted to go off and take a shower but decided to check in with Jeff first to see if it was a good time to leave him with the care of both of them (he was also making taquitos at the time). When I asked him, he said teasingly, "Sure! Better make it a long shower!" And I responded with, "OK, I'll see you around 1 o'clock then!" (which is the boys' quiet time). Just a simple exchange like that, done in good humor, can lighten the mood and brighten the room.

Even on a gloomy day.