I agree with this statement 150%. Noah and Riley can laugh
and giggle for significant chunks of time. I hear their laughter and it melts
my heart. We might be driving in the car and they are singing a song in a silly
voice. Genuine laughter follows their silly behavior. We might be at home and
they are throwing stuffed animals back and forth. I don’t even bother asking
why they are throwing stuffed animals. What is interesting is the genuine
laughter that is never ending. If throwing stuffed animals is amusing, who am I
to put a stop to the fun?
However, a child’s
giggle can also create a boat load of stress. It is like someone flipped a
light switch because the kids transform into miniature monsters. Mischievous laughter
by one child means he/she is purposely irritating or annoying the other for no
apparent reason. Evil, conniving laughter
by one child is followed by squawks, yelling and, “I am telling Mom,” by the
other child.
My response is the typical teacher response, “How can you
solve this problem?” Of course, in my perfect world, the kids understand that
one sibling needs to say, “Stop being annoying.” The other kid needs to listen.
Simple, right? HA HA!
Unfortunately, my world is perfectly imperfect and I usually
have to coach the kids through a problem solving process, or give a direct
order for them to relocate to separate rooms. This coaching/direct order
process is hard and frustrating because both kids are stubborn. Giving in symbolizes losing and my kids can be sore losers when
they are angry and irritated. Lucky for Dean and I, the kids typically save
their miniature monster behavior for moments when we are at home. Is laughter
worth one hundred pounds of gold? Not if the laughter is evil and conniving.
Most of the time Dean and I enjoy a hundred pounds of gold in laughter from our kids. However, we always make sure to save a bit of gold for days that are perfectly imperfect.
