There is much to be thankful for this Advent season. There is also much to laugh at; too much if you ask me. Look around. Does the obvious humor in the room stand out to you? No, not yet? Are there any kids in the room?Children rely so much on their parents/guardians to bring meaning to the simplest situations. However, it works both ways. Many times it takes the simple understanding of a child to truly see humor in an adult world.
My family and I were just about to sit down to a great home cooked meal prepared by my wonderfully beautiful and talented wife when the doorbell rang...
...Well, at least that's how I remember the evening. What it actually may have been like was this.
I get home late from work, I'm stressed and I'm hungry. My wife is carrying similar work stress plus the added bonus of dealing with a smart mouthed four year old and a crying three month old who's most likely as hungry as I am. How my wife managed to still have dinner in the oven is a motherly-mystery that may remain unsolved. It didn't matter what it was that was baking; it was going to be hot and it was going to be ready soon. After wrestling with my four year old to get him to pick up his toys and wash his hands; after the baby was silenced with a belly full of milk we where ready to sit down and eat. We where seated and all was just starting to quite down when the doorbell screeched everyone to the same tension we had when I first walked through the door.
"Who could that be? I wasn't expecting anyone. It's late, I'm just about to eat. Why does this always happen when I've had a crazy day." was my response to having to get up and answer the door.
"Daddy, can I come to?" was said by my 4 yr old about a thousand times within a few seconds.
My wife has always been a stickler for having the whole family eat together at the same time so she insisted we all go and answer the door together.
Wouldn't you know it, it was only a package delivery left at the front door, the UPS driver already gone. I picked it up and handed it to my wife. We all walked back to the table and finally began to eat.
Not long after sitting down at the dinner table did I look up and notice a puzzled look on my four year old son's face.
"Boy, is there something wrong?"
My 4 yr old look at at me and my wife and said, "Mommy, Daddy,...how did the package ring the door bell?"
We haven't stopped laughing since.
And that is how our hair-yanking evening became a great memory of a fabulous meal with my wife and kids.
Find something to laugh at right now.
Blessings,
Michael
