Dear Moms, Dads, Relatives, Educators and Business Owners!

I remember the first time my daughter laughed out loud. I woke up very grumpy one morning after she had only permitted me 2 unbroken hours of sleep. I caught sight of my rather unhappy panda-like face in the mirror and held her up next to me and said, "Look what you did! Look at mommy's grumpy face." I pulled an extra grumpy face in the mirror for her. She giggled and gurgled out loud and I was totally overcome with the warm fuzzies and I even cracked a smile from ear to ear. I completely forgot about the previous night's lack of sleep torture. (Until now that is.)

Little did I realise she had used laughter to distract me and transform my mood from bad to good. Aha! Babies and children are much smarter than we realise. Parents can be smart too (even the zombie like ones) by learning humurous behaviour from their offspring and using it in return. I am now fully trained in the laughter distraction method.

When my children are fighting, the tickle monster is let loose and no feet or underarms are safe. When they fall off a swing or wipe out on their bikes I say, "Look at the damage you have done to the garden/driveway!" Not very original I know but it works well. Few children can keep a sad face when you sting yourself on your fingers with an elastic band (in fact any type of slapstick comedy works well for those parents with a high pain threshold). For some strange reason, babies and toddlers love the "pretend there's a bee flying above your head" act accompanied by the appropriate buzzing sound effects. These are all excellent methods of distraction guaranteed to extract a giggle or ten from the little grumpsters and help them forget what was bothering them. Aim for laughter from the heart!

Did you know there is an Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor? Me neither. I just found it on the internet! They are, according to their web site, "a non-profit professional organization that advances the understanding and application of humor and laughter for their positive benefits." Whew! They believe in the use of humor and laughter to enhance work performance, support learning, improve health and use as a coping tool. So there you go. Laughter can be the best therapy, it is free and anyone can learn to use it!

It is Children’s Day on Sunday 1st June. I hope you get to spoil your children with lots of cuddles, kisses and laughter.

Take care
Cara