Lifelong learning: Being stuck in the giggles

Have you ever been sitting in a meeting or a classroom and suddenly you (maybe by yourself, or maybe with a friend) - get the giggles?

Me? All the time.

I remember one time in particular as if it were yesterday. I was on vacation in Hawaii with my family, more than 30 years ago. My dad, brother and I were sitting at an outdoor table waiting for my mom and sister to finish some souvenir shopping. Suddenly a bird flew by and pooped from the air, as they do, and it landed smack dab on my dad’s forehead and glasses.

My brother and I were less than helpful. We both burst into laughter as my dad grabbed his hankie and headed for the nearest bathroom. In fact, we were still laughing when he returned, maybe 10 minutes later. We had our heads on the table, almost crying, we were laughing so hard.

We tried to pull it together, especially when he would say, “OK, enough already.” However, if you’ve ever been stuck in the giggles, you know it’s almost impossible to stop yourself from laughing at a moment’s notice.

We would both stop, then one of us would “lose it” and then we would both start laughing again. The more irritated he became with us, the harder it was to stop laughing. (I even started laughing while writing this, and had called my dad. He said, “Yea, still not funny.”)

When the wonderful Jimmy Valvano was giving his ESPY Award speech (when he was so very ill) he said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” I wholeheartedly agree with him.

Those of you that know me, know that I am almost always smiling and laughing. In my house, if you were to drop by unexpectedly, you might very well find me at the dinner table (which is actually an island with seating), dancing and singing with the little kids while we eat dinner.

I’m a terrible singer and dancer by my own admission, but it truly has nothing to do with singing and dancing. It has to do with enjoying moments and making memories with those around you.

I think laughter brings people closer. Victor Borge was right when he said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” I have a friend that truly lives about 1,000 miles away. She and I will text each other something funny-usually involving our children, and we will both tell you that we will literally laugh out loud, at each other’s stories.

“Mary Poppins” is one of my favorite movies. In one part of the movie, Uncle Albert gets the giggles and starts singing “I love to laugh.” He is laughing so much that he literally floats up near the ceiling. When the others start laughing, they too, end up floating to the ceiling. Milton Berle said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.” Charlie Chaplin said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.’

One of the hardest things to do, is not to laugh when you are trying to scold your young child, when they are in trouble and they in turn say something cute. Gracie is three and she realizes when I am telling her “no” and reminding her of the rules, that “Mamma is being serious.” She has this one particular face she makes that she knows makes us all laugh. It’s taken me a while, but I can finally say, to her, without laughing, “quit giving me the look, you are in trouble, Miss.”

However, after we resolve the “issue” and she heads back off to play, I shake my head and of course, I laugh.

Have a great day filled with smiles, giggles and laughs.