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What is Fun? What is Funny?
Sometimes life feels so crazed that I wonder how I'll come up with new ideas for writing. As much as we love our daughters, my husband and I usually end our nights sacked out on our couch watching television because we are simply too fried to do anything else. Add to this exhaustion night wakings, ear infections and other daily kids' crisis, and sometimes my brain feels more like a sieve than an artistic tool.
I try to remind myself to find humor in our daily life. Sometimes I pace my house wondering, "What is funny?"
The other day, I warned my eldest, Emelia, not to pull her piggy bank down from the top of her dresser.
"It will fall on your head," I warned her, "and that wouldn't be fun."
She smiled, "No, but it would be funny."
I chuckled a bit. Mostly though, I was amazed at her ability to differentiate between fun and funny.
As a mom, I'm constantly worrying about my kids. Put on sunscreen, don't climb on our table, don't swing that broom in my living room -- not fun. But in my writing, I need to be funny. I wonder how I can be such a boring mom and yet find humor to write with. Is it possible?
Maybe we can't make fun of things if we don't see the negatives. If everything is roses, then there's nothing to mock, right?
A few weeks ago, Emelia went on her first field trip. Her preschool took her to a local children's museum.
Emelia had nightmares for two nights before the big trip. When we asked her what was wrong, she shook her head and said nothing. The day before the trip, she was crabby -- snapping here and there. Our tempers were short with her. We became crabby, too.
On the morning of her big trip, her Dad took her to school. She sat very quietly looking out the window.
"Daddy?" she asked. "What if I can't get up the stairs on the bus?"
My husband says his heart melted at that moment. He reassured her that she would be okay, that there would be teachers and a bus driver to help her in and out of the bus. He dropped her off and called me laughing.
Emelia's fear wasn't much fun for her -- or for us. Heck, we were pissy parents as she took her angst out on us. But in retrospect, the whole thing is kind of funny. And it reminds me what being a little kid is all about. How hills look like mountains, and escalators are frightening machines. How cherished memories are based on everyday events like ice cream with grandma and gardening with grandpa. And it is watching my kids have these experiences that keeps me inspired. Because even when life is really not fun, you can always look back and find something to laugh about. |
can u give me some inks? (doesn't matter what color have them!...) i'll pay stare