I work with couples, and many times I wish they had learned how to handle frustration early on in life.  If you are going to get married, you are going to experience frustration at some point.  It is just part of the game.  But I believe many people learn the exact wrong way to handle frustration, much like this skateboarder…

Now, Dutch researchers think they’ve verified why this is so and how a joke helps us — most of the time – laugh it off and turn our negative mood positive.

It’s not as obvious as you might think, says Madelijn Strick, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and the lead author of the study, published in the journal Emotion.

“Most researchers would argue that humor counters negative emotions because of the positive emotions it elicits,” she tells WebMD in an email interview.

via Good Jokes Cure Bad Moods.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I still can not believe I had my boys participate in the Coney Island Boardwalk game called “Shoot the Freak”. Check out the video and watch my sons shoot at a live person with a paint gun. Maybe it’s just me, but something just does not feel right about letting your kids take aim at another human being and shoot!

Of course I still let them do it, so I’m not sure what that says about me but I’m sure you all can leave comments to let me know.

Click here to view the embedded video.

All we wanted to do was get from the Subway station at Bowling Green to the free Staten Island Ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty.  As we headed across Battery Park we got held up by three guys as they began their show.  Their acrobats and dancing were incredible, but the finale was even better! That’s when the kids get involved, but you’ll have to check it out (if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, because they’re not you’re kids, just skip toward the end and you’ll see the final stunt):

I had to turn on the lights in our family room and get this shot of our daughter Reagan asleep on the couch with our dog, Fergie. I am a bad dad for leaving my daughter on the couch, especially since my wife just repainted her room at our daughters request. She said her room needed to be updated to reflect more of a “tween” theme! Am I in trouble or what.

Only dads can get away with stuff like this! I think one of the great things about fathers is how we desire to goof off with our kids.  Never underestimate the power of having fun with your children.  I know that dads, especially those like me, can get a lot of flack for “always wanting to play” and not taking things very serious.  But think about all the memories created by goofy, fun dads. Raising our children takes a lot of work, sweat, tears, and prayer.  Sometimes we need to not taking life so seriously and just have fun together.

What do you think? Do dads need to be more serious? Let us know your thoughts =]

I thought you might enjoy this video footage of the actual attack:

{vidavee id=”16444″ w=”320″ }

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Don’t say we didn’t ever try to be funny

This is how you reach someone that isn’t interested in a boring church

Five minutes hadn’t gone by when my 9-year old daughter, Reagan, came prancing in to the kitchen where my wife was casually standing trying to admire her new hair color in the reflection of the refrigerator. Amy turned to face Reagan, to check out what she thought of the new hair color and Reagan stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t say a word, which left time for the other two kids to come flying in to the kitchen. The boys rounded the corner and came to a sliding halt when they saw their mother, and her new hair color. All three kids just stood their trying to figure out who this strange woman was standing in their kitchen.

Amy broke the silence to ask what they all thought of her new hair color. I tried to caution the boys, but I was too late. They immediately started freaking out about Amy’s choice in hair color. But to my amazement, Reagan stood firmly in the center of the kitchen and pleaded for the boys to stop teasing mommy. She then said one of the most classic lines in Reagan’s young life, “Stop teasing mommy…she only did this for Halloween. She’ll change it back in a few days.”

I fell to the floor laughing. I couldn’t help myself. Thankfully, Amy laughed as well.

Amy’s hair is back to normal today…after her brief stint as Elvira’s hair backup.

Now that’s a Christmas song!

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that.

And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they’re welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. ‘This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about his birthday.’

‘First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then
Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew in there.
He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.’

She’s standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

‘Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’ Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. ‘She walked around the house for, like an hour, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.

‘My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.’ Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.

‘And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!’ This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!

‘Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom’s play-center, so there must be a lot of toys inside there.’

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I’m sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it’s show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ‘Middle Wife’ comes along.

Now you have two choices…laugh and close this page or pass this along to someone else to spread the laughs. I know what I did!!!

Live every day as if it is your LAST chance to make someone happy!