“Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me
night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die.”
(Abraham Lincoln)

Parenting is serious business. Talk about a “fearful strain!” There are diapers to change and manners to teach. There is homework to supervise and a schedule to keep. There are dangers to protect against and tears to wipe away. Parenting is certainly a very heavy load.

But it is also an endless source of laughter if we look in the right places. And whenever we do so, we teach our kids one of the most valuable lessons possible: Life is fun.

When the diaper explodes, instead of getting angry, laugh and be glad it’s your child’s diaper you’re changing and not the other way around. When the dinner gets burned because you were helping junior with the volcano project, laugh and head out for cheap pizza.

By being flexible and finding the fun, even amidst the most fearful strains upon us, we’ll be in a much better place to handle anything coming our way.

Peace begins with pause,