Moms Talk Q & A: Keeping a Sense of Humor

Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council.

How do you maintain your sense of humor in your daily life as a mom?

Devone Lansing: Like all moms probably do, I think my children are hilarious.  That said, their goofy antics sometimes get on my nerves by the end of the day!

To keep a good grip on my sense of humor, I try to remind myself daily (or sometimes even hourly) that these times are just "for a season." My kids are growing up faster than I would like ... so I should enjoy their silliness, not try to stop it!

I also keep a journal of funny things that they say and do. Sometimes looking back on good times can help ease the stress of those "other times."

Gloria Kilfoyle: I always think of the children's tale called It Could Be Worse, which tells the story of a farmer who has all his relatives living in his house.

He complains to the rabbi about his terrible life and how noisy the place is. The rabbi tells him to bring the pigs into his house. Every time he goes back to the rabbi to complain, the rabbi tells him to bring another animal into the house.

So finally he has all kinds of animals in the house plus all the people. He goes back to the rabbi and says that he just cannot stand the noise in his house. So the rabbi says, "Get rid of all the animals. See, it could be worse."

Melanie Majikas: I think maintaining a sense of humor is a key part of parenting, but it's not always easy.

Whether it is taking a deep breath and laughing when you see marker all over a wall from your toddler, or joking with your teen rather than lecturing about chores that need to be done, humor goes a long way in making parenting an easier job.

It's difficult for busy parents sometimes to take that step back and learn to use humor, I think.

Donna Milnes: Trying to keep a sense of humor while dealing with the everyday crises that comes up is a very hard thing to do.

I always have had a very good group of moms that were my friends and we could share and laugh about our daily situations and how we handled them (sometimes correctly and sometimes not).

I realized that we all have daily trauma that is very minor when we look back.  Moms are not perfect and we do our best. I could write my own sitcom and laugh at myself.

Mary Jo Stack: Some days I have a sense of humor, some days, not so much.

My children and my husband are very funny people. I believe they help me see things on the lighter side. I think other moms are the strength that get us through any rough times.