Laughter is the Best Medicine

Laughter is the best medicine.  I’ve heard that a million times in my life, but never really paid attention.  I’ve always been a pretty easy-going person doing my best to live in the moment.

After my divorce, life was tough.  I was fighting my ex in court and he was doing his best to make life as difficult as possible.  I went from being a happy-go-lucky mom who looked forward to each day to a woman who was trying her best to keep it all together without losing my sanity.

For a while, there was not a lot to smile about (at least in my opinion).  Then one day it hit me.  I was finally free to live life on my terms.  I’d finally had the courage to go and now it would be a new day.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

There’s one thing with my children that never fails.  No matter how angry they get with each other, or their father, or me…they never hold grudges.  And they laugh.  Belly laughs.  Bowled over, rolling on the floor, screaming laughter.  ALL.  THE.  TIME.

I’ve learned a thing or twenty from them.  Watching the way, they laugh together has even helped to improve my parenting.

According to a study by Psychology Today, the average 4-year-old laughs 300 times a day while the average 40-year-old laughs only 4 times a day.  Pretty sad, right?

Of all the different strategies and techniques for handling situations that come up as a parent, laughter is among the best. Not only does humor and laughter help to alleviate tension and stress, it has also been shown to benefit us physically. Here are a few benefits of parenting with a positive spin, as well as ways to incorporate laughter into your parenting routine.

Physical Benefits

Laughter helps to relieve physical stress and tension, which leaves your body feeling more relaxed after. A good laugh also gets your heart pumping and gives your heart and lungs a workout. Laughing for fifteen minutes burns almost the same number of calories as a fifteen-minute walk. This means that laughing can really help when it comes to keeping fit and keeping up with the kids.  Maybe instead of going for a walk, I could pop in a Katt Williams video instead.

When we laugh, our bodies release endorphins, which make us feel good and give us a sense of well-being. Laughing also reduces the levels of stress hormones in the body, which eases tension and anxiety. Reducing your stress hormone levels may also boost the performance of your immune system. This means that laughter may also help keep you and your kids healthy.

Other Benefits

When people laugh together, it strengthens their relationship. If you share laughter and humor with your kids, it helps you to bond more as a family. Laughing together encourages people to work together as a team and helps to settle conflict. Your kids will feel more connected to you if you share laughter and will be all the more motivated to do what you want them to.

Humor also helps to relieve distress during times when you are feeling overwhelmed. By making laughter a part of every day, both you and your family can maintain a more positive outlook and healthy attitude, all the way around.

You can find ways to have fun together as a family that are both fun and inexpensive, no matter what time of year!

Finding Ways to Laugh

It’s easy to make laughter a part of your parenting routine, because kids love to laugh and have a good time. If your kids have a hard time getting excited about cleaning up after themselves, come up with an encouraging activity or game to play while you clean. This way, they will actually want to participate and help out, rather than doing it to avoid getting into trouble.

When something bad happens and it’s time to get tough, try to focus on the positive aspects of the situation rather than the negative. Your kids may be more inclined to stay in bed at night if you talk to them about some of the fun things that might happen in the morning, rather than how much trouble they’ll be in if they don’t fall asleep.

Not only does laughter help to keep you and your family healthy and stress free, it also encourages your kids to behave better and enjoy life more (no more yelling!). The time your family spends laughing together are the times your kids will fondly remember as they get older and form families of their own. If you encourage them to stay positive, they’ll pass that outlook down to their own kids in the future.

Kids don’t spend time looking for things to be upset about or thinking about some slight from their friend.  They acknowledge it, resolve it, and move.  I’ve never once heard one of my children bringing something the other did two weeks ago.

Kids want to have fun and thinking about things that are not fun is not a part of the plan.  They could be fussing about something one minute and laughing and playing 30 seconds later.

I want to be more like that.  I want to find ways to just let things go.  To find just one more positive thing to celebrate each day.  Just one more reason to laugh.

I want to be like my kids when I grow up.  We watched a cute movie, Trolls together which really brings those lessons home.

I’d love to hear your stories about how your children inspire you and ways you’d like to be more like them!

Please leave a comment below.