ROTFL! (for real)
Thursday night can be a stressful time for a lot of frum women. Suddenly, on top of everything else and at the end of a tiring week, they are expected to churn out two top-shelf meals and get the house cleaned up all in one night!
(Yes, I know there are husbands who do all the cooking and cleaning, a wide variety of kosher takeout options, and cleaning ladies for hire - but this blog is about MY life, so work with me here people!)
When we lived in an apartment we had neighbors who would have a huge, loud, fight each and every Thursday night and even I'll admit that if something goes wrong on a Thursday night it doesn't take much to set me off. I once, many years ago, accidentally spilled an entire stock pot of freshly cooked chicken soup down the drain and cried for well over an hour.
I think, however, I've found the sure for Thursday night stress.
Extreme laughter.
Most people who use text or instant messaging have seen the acronym ROTFL appear on the screen at some point. It stands for "Rolling On the Floor Laughing" but is usually meant to indicated something you found VERY funny. While I've seen many people crack up laughing in my day, actual rolling on the floor with laughter happens a lot less frequently in real life than thost letters appear on the screen.
When it does happen though it feels great!
Last night my husband and I were in the kitchen getting some things ready for Shabbos when he suddenly launched into a version of REM's "Shiny Happy People" which he reworked to do describe some persnickety people we both know. Something to the effect of "Grumpy Cranky People pointing fingers" honestly I don't even remember most of his impromptu lyrics but they were so funny I just couldn't breathe. I had been mixing up a batch of carrot muffins at the table and I had to just sit down on the floor I was laughing so hard but he didn't stop.
By the time I was laying down on the floor laughing so hard my stomach hurt my husband was completely cracking up just from watching me laugh.
Even though our night started off stressfully (unexpected guests we couldn't say no to etc...) that ten minutes of laughter really made my night. Everything got done (almost) and we had a really nice night. I only hope he can come up with some new material for next week.