Laughter in the home is actually an integral part of building family relationships.
It’s a parenting tool that Studio 5 Parenting Contributor Heather Johnson believes has the power to transform your home, and it’s something all parents have access to.
The secret is laughter. Heather believes in it, and she says laughter is a simple, but incredibly powerful way to create strong and lasting parent-child relationships.
Why Laughter Matters
Heather explained, “It’s almost like this gateway to everything else we want to be as a mother and grandmother. It opens the door for us to be more patient. It opens the door for us to be more kind. Laughter opens the door for us to be more connected with someone else, for us to communicate differently.”
Challenges to Laughter in Families
So why isn’t laughter happening more in our homes or our families? Heather pointed out, “If we’re too busy, it’s really hard to find time to laugh together. We’re constantly telling kids where they need to go, what they need to be doing. We’re accomplishing. We’re racing around…. and so there aren’t those moments where we sit still for a second and we allow laughter to be how we connect.”
Use Laugher as a Tool
Heather emphasized the importance of seeing laughter as a tool rather than just a reaction. “Instead of thinking of it as, if something funny happens and there’s enough time, then I’m going to react. We want to see it as a tool we’re going use in order to connect long term.”
Laugh in Serious Situations
Heather also addressed the misconception that laughing at serious situations minimizes them. “Have you ever considered you could laugh with a kid who’s having trouble in school? You could laugh if there’s a spill in your home, you could laugh if something goofy or silly happens in your home.”
Celebrate “The Funny One”
Heather highlighted the importance of recognizing the functional roles within families. “Everyone in our family plays what we call a functional role. Someone’s a peacemaker. Someone’s the one that brings in the humor. We play those functional roles, and how cool would it be if we saw the one who was funny as a functional role that benefited our whole family and we jumped on board with that.”
Building Bonds Through Laughter
Heather explained, “If we laugh today and tomorrow and the next day, then we’ve created a relationship of laughter over time. We actually know that laughter builds bonds over time. Parents want nothing more than to have relationships with their kids as they get older. To know that laughter helps ensure a relationship over time is pretty amazing.”
Laughter Increases Resilience
Heather shared a personal story about resilience: “In a singular week, we lost an aunt and my grandfather all in the same couple of days. It was so heavy. About 48 hours after my grandfather died, our dog passed away. I remember my parents coming in and my dad using humor and laughing at the situation. As the room started to laugh, my brothers and I had this release, this ability to just sit for a second. I could feel that resiliency of ‘we can do this as a family, we can get through this.’”
You Don’t Have to Be Naturally Silly…
Heather concluded by encouraging parents to see laughter as a way to connect. “I don’t have to be silly to be able to laugh if I’ll see it as a way to connect. It transforms family systems over time. The connection, the correlation you’ve made from laughing with that nine-year-old now to bonding with that 35-year-old later, I think is motivation enough and plenty.”
To contact Heather for counseling, email blog.familyvolley@gmail.com, or visit www.familyvolley.blogspot.com.
Add comment