"Oh, darling...dinner's ready."
Giggle, snicker, hehehehehehe.
Mom Joke
In walks hubby, drawn to the kitchen by the alluring smell of buttery onions and roasted garlic only to find a monstrous, eye-bulging, teeth showing creature staring up at him from the center of the table. And here I am, rolling on the floor, laughing out loud, watching his jaw drop. My daughter? She's not amused:
"Mom! That's not funny! I'm making chicken nuggets."
You gotta love teens. They tell it like it is. No beating around the bush, no tiptoeing on egg shells afraid they'll hurt your feelings. If it enters their head, it spills out of their mouth.
A few years ago, our daughter came home from school and told my husband and I that we had placed second in a very prestigious contest. According to the seventh grade class at Northland Christian, we were voted the second weirdest parents. Now, I don't know if this was for the entire school or just for that grade, but it didn't matter. And this is an honor we didn't take lightly. In fact, I created a dance and song to celebrate and offered to record it for YouTube. Unfortunately my daughter didn't see the value in that and begged me not to do it. Oh, my poor, frequently mortified child who must coach her parents on how not to behave in restaurants before we leave the car:
"Now Dad, please don't introduce everyone at our table to the wait staff. And please don't tell her the comb-over joke. It's really not funny."
Seriously? Not funny? Oh, that's my favorite one. Although the telling can be quite time-consuming. You'd have to know the whole background joke to truly get it, but think high school basketball coach with a foot long comb-over greased across his shiny bald head, flapping in the wind as he demonstrates a perfectly executed lay-up. Now think of a balding lawn with overgrown patches. Yep, time for a lawn-comb over. Okay, so maybe its a private joke. That's what we always say when people aren't laughing, right? But stay with me here.
So what does Monkfish, comb-overs, and ROFLOL moments have to do with marriage? Laughter is the medicine, my friend. The igniting spark, the cementing glue, the vein-bulging, drool producing, cough-ensuing catalyst that will bond you and your husband's heart for life. (If you don't get the whole vein-bulging, drool producing, cough-ensuing reference, you've never seen my second laugh. You know the one. Where you're rocking back and forth, mouth gaping, laughing so hard you begin to choke on your own spit. Although the second laugh is nothing like the third laugh. At least that's what I've been told.)
According to Elizabeth George, author of A Woman After God's Own Heart, the woman "sets the mood and maintains the atmosphere in the home." (p. 134) Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
Wow, is that true! If I'm a sour pickle, it isn't long before gloom and doom settles around our house. But if I pick up a wooden spoon and an old coffee can and do the tango in the middle of the kitchen-oops, forgot about those windows, and my neighbor mowing his lawn. Well, he used to be mowing, now he's watching that crazy Slattery lady do a John Travolta-Cindy-Lauper-Pee-Wee-Hermon dance in the middle of her kitchen. Think he'd like to join me? It isn't long before we're all laughing.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you should skirt over issues and sweep everything under the rug. What I'm saying is make your house a home. Make it a place of joy. Don't be afraid to be silly. You're your husband's teammate. Be his friend, too. Add a splash of jalepeno-infused vinegar into your relationship and watch your husband's eyes light up as his worries of work dissolve beneath a fit of giggles.
Don't know how? Get a book. Seriously. There's nothing wrong with seeking out a good, clean joke once in a while. And ask God to help you. Even better, spend a few minutes at your Savior's feet. What? You thought God was a staunch-nosed galactic kill joy? Then you've never watched an eighty-pound German Shepherd chase his tail or a baby devour his toes. God is the God of joy and He wants to share that joy with you.
Most important: keep it fun. Life is serious enough. Your spouse doesn't need another business partner. He needs a heart-lifter. He needs a friend.
The Importance of Humor in Marriage
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