The Wife Blogs Back Edition 3: The Case of the Wife's Uncontrollable Laughter

 

So as a new mother, I really want to be able to protect my son from any pain (right now that pain is from teething) or any discomfort.  If he is in pain or discomfort my hope is that Josh or I can comfort him and be there for him.

I really have tried to be that kind of mom, but I have a case of a nervous sick sense of humor laugh that has a tendency to pop up at the wrong time.  I blame this on my family.... many of them suffer from the uncontrollable inappropriate timed laugh as well.

Before Rory and Florida:
Picture a grocery store with a florist area full of flowers and green filler leaves that you can put together to make a bouquet.  My friend Sing and I were running around getting some last minute things for her brother's party.  She wanted to also grab roses and some of the greenery.  As she examined which leaves would look best, she accidentally knocked over a whole bucket that was stuffed too tightly with leaves.  As water pooled all over the floor and she was trying to stuff the leaves back into the bucket, my uncontrollable laugh attacked.  I was laughing so hard that I was crying.  When a worker appeared on the scene, I said through my laughter, "She did it!" 

Sing just about killed me.  She warned me that my sick laugh would come back to haunt me at an even worse time and about 10 years later... it did.

Present:
Picture the cozy living room of the VonTrapp- Davidson family this past Sunday.  A group of us were meeting for our bible study and were gathered in a circle eating some tasty food before we began our discussion.  Rory was playing nicely with a cute little toy piano on a blanket in the middle of the floor.  I bent down to grab my red solo dixie cup filled with ice cold water and that is when it happened! 

Flooop! The cup flew out of my hand and its contents splattered on the top of my little baby boy's head just like a water balloon.  Poor Rory had no idea what terrible thing just happened to him, but it was probably very cold.  He began to wail and of course my no good uncontrollable laugh began.  I was laughing so hard that I had tears streaming.  It didn't help the rest of the room erupted in laughter too after the initial shock.  I tried to coo to my baby and comfort him, but I am sure he knew that his mother was unhelpful in that moment. It took a bit before we both calmed down.  Daddy had pulled him out of my arms because my laughter didn't have quite the calming effect.



So I hope that the next time my child is upset that I will be a comforter not a laugher.

I also hope that my husband will not continue with his bad habit, something I call "remember the time."  I can just hear it 10 years down the road - Josh, "Hey Kim remember the time you dumped ice water over Rory's head when he was just 6 months old?" 

Comic by Bitstrips