Tim and I are shameless Will Ferrell fans. In the movie “Anchorman,” he retorts after losing his job, “I’m completely miserable, San Diego!” He pauses and then says, “It’s so dang hot out here!” He then swigs back a gulp of milk that dribbles down his Grizzly Adams beard and says, “Milk was a bad choice!” This line gives me a chuckle every time. I am not passing this on to you as if I believe it will make you laugh; in fact, you might find it very silly.

I couldn’t put my finger on why it made me laugh so hard. I’ll even play this clip on gloomy days just to see if I can get through it without laughing; I still haven’t achieved this goal. (I’m such a high achiever … ha!)

One day as I watched it, it dawned on me — it was just so exaggerated. Here’s a grown man who just hours prior to the scene has lost his job. It’s just the absurdity that makes me laugh. So I decided that I should view my children’s drama with the same hilarity.

Our scene at home goes something like this:

“Spencer gets to do everything, but you never let me do anything. Do you hate me? ”

Really? Hate my child? I now respond by saying, “That’s right, Honey, we wish you were never born. We are giving you away until you can be perfect like your brother.”

“Levi always gets away with everything because you like him better.”

This is absurd, so I respond with, “Well, Honey, you’re not bringing a lot to the table right now. You need to step up your game.”

When Tim or I say these things, they laugh immediately and realize that they have been caught up in the drama of it all and we are not going to fall for it! This new approach has been very effective.

Whenever we go on a road trip, which is often, the kids must ask (and it is written right there in the handbook for all children on page 43), “Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet?!” Tim now answers, “Yes, Son, Daddy likes to get to a destination and keep on driving,” or, “Hey, when you see the trees stop moving, then we have arrived.” “Hello the car’s still in motion … duh!” You get the idea.

So, I say don’t buy into their drama; instead have a little fun with it. Make these “high drama” scenes of the motherhood journey enjoyable by finding a creative way to laugh through the drama.

The swig of milk is optional!