The Money Pit Laugh

I heard a commotion. 

Not uncommon in this house, especially toward Jude’s room. 

I made my way to inspect things. 

Blue. 

Everything was blue. It was all over our bedroom.

The wall. The carpet. The bathroom door. The trim. Parts of our dresser. 

Jude had slapped a scented candle off its decorative warmer. AFTER dumping some jewelry in the wax.

Blue wax was everywhere. 

I called for Megan. Then I pointed and laughed. Hysterically. 

If you’re an 80s kid like me then you’ve probably seen Tom Hanks in The Money Pit. There’s a specific part that my sister and I loved. During a never-ending home renovation a bathtub falls through the second floor and shatters below. What happens next is the best part of the movie. Tom Hanks, delirious from the work and the project, points and laughs. It’s not a little bit. It’s like an obnoxiously long scene where the laughing gets louder and louder. It goes on for entirely too long and that’s what makes it so funny. 

That’s how I described my laugh when I told my sister about the candle situation. 

When everything else goes wrong. When nothing is working. Nobody is sleeping. Nobody is getting to school on time. Teenage hormones - and moods - take over. Doctors appointments are frequent. Soccer team losses pile up. 

The Roussins laugh. Humor is always in our home. It’s our superpower. 

When we all get in a specific frame of mind - often on vacation - we feed off one another. There have been times I cannot drive because I have tears in my eyes. We have to take a break from the joke and come back to it. 

That’s how hard the Roussins laugh at times. 

So what’s the lesson? 

As a special needs parent, life is heavy. We’re always staring down a life of sacrifice, ongoing care, expensive treatments, forgotten personal goals. A serious approach to our life can pile on even more weight. 

Fight back against the weight. Start small with some humor. 

Watch a comedy (I can recommend a few). Call a friend or family member who makes you laugh. Look for the humor in little things - even hard things like blue candle wax stains.

If the Joy of the Lord is our strength . . . 

laughter is its favorite cousin. 

Update on the candle-stained carpet? We put a rug over it for now. Our room smells great too! 

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones". Proverbs 17:22