Last Updated on March 20, 2018

smiley-faceA joyful heart is good medicine, according to Proverbs 17:22 (ESV).  Had any good laughs lately?

“The boys need their fingernails clipped,” my loving husband mentioned.

“I did it during school today.  And I did their toenails a few days ago.”

“During school?” (Note: we home school; otherwise this would be really weird.)

“Yep.  I do it while they’re working on phonics.”

My husband paused his food preparation at the kitchen counter and peered at me with raised eyebrows, a grin just itching to bust out.  “You sit under the table and clip their toenails while they are doing school?”

“Yep.  When else am I going to do it?”

The funniest thing is that it had never occurred to me what a silly picture this presents, but he’s right – it’s a little odd.  But not to a mom!

Then there was the time I took my teen daughter swimsuit shopping while I carried an inflated plastic bag of live crickets in my purse. Running errands, I should have picked up the pet lizard’s food last to keep the nasty critters from a quick, stinky death in the car due to summer heat.  But too late, I realized my only option was to carry the crickets into every air-conditioned swimsuit department in town.  The worst part was hearing the insects scratching away in their plastic bag – yuck!  At least they weren’t superworms; those are really creepy.  I had to take a tub of those into a certain large chain coffee shop with me once….

And if you’re not laughing with me yet, try this one.  I was leaving the third-floor dental office with two little boys in tow, so we took the elevator.  And just like happens in the movies, it got stuck between floors.  But what doesn’t happen in the movies while the hapless victims are waiting for help?

“Mommy, I have to go potty!”

Let me just stop right there and tell you there’s good reason for a mom to carry Ziploc bags in her purse.  And if it’s a big purse, the elevator repairmen will never be the wiser.

Oh, the things we do as moms!  Because we love our families, and sometimes we have to resort to creative means to do the job.  And a joyful heart is good medicine!

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5 Comments

  1. Nell Kirk says:

    I love it. You are such an ingenious mom! Those funny stories about life with children are everywhere.

  2. I recall my husband about lost it once when I told him I had to let one of our kids throw up in my hands…on the way to the trashcan, we were at a friends home and I didn’t want it to get all over the place…my hands worked on the way to the trashcan. That’s mom love! Thanks for a window into mom reality!

    1. Megan Rice says:

      Oh, that’s a good one!

  3. I have done the puke in my hands thing too. LOL
    Another Ziploc one…I keep them in the car … my oldest would frequently get car sick when younger…keep a gallon size on your lap…puke, zip! :o)