a barrel of laughs

this posting is for all you m&fs out there.

that's mothers and fathers, of course. what WERE you thinking??!??

anyway, i receive regular updates from www.babycenter.com on parenting tips and this particular one made me sit up immediately: How to raise a fun (and funny) child - and why it matters.

laughter is the world's best medicine indeed.

immediately i thought of all the silly rituals that the kids and i get into every night before bedtime.

as part of their "winding down" process, the girls are given a quick shower and we'd get into a "spitting" competition - we'd fill our mouths with water, gargle and aim at the wall/glass panel and sometimes each other! when that happens, i've to clean them up again and the hub loves to poke his head in and comment that we've spend too much time playing with (and wasting) water. but the girls enjoy this silly game and fill the bathroom with their delightful giggles and squeals.

i love to make up silly rhymes and songs too. the girls also have their own little "shu-xian-xian" and "shu-wen-wen" songs which have different melodies and can be sung together in harmony.

and just before xian goes to bed, she'll select 1 or 2 dr seuss books and i'd read to her in as many different accents i can muster. her favourite is my "funny french accent" which isn't very authentic. i can do the various brit ones better, but i guess they're not as hilarious. sometimes i pinch my nose to create a more nasal voice, which gets the girls cracking up as they take turns to pinch my nose whenever the character appears in the story.

aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...the things i do to entertain my lovely rascals.

all in the name of good clean family fun.

naturally there are flips sides to being the mumsy clown. my daughters obviously have the intelligence to decipher which parent can be bullied. they never take me seriously, even when i raise my voice and threaten to throw away their toys/books. i can yell and scream till i'm hoarse and blue in the face, and still they won't listen to whatever i tell them to do.

but all the hub needs to do is to stare and grunt, and the kids will settle down nicely, without so much as a squeak of protest.

it's totally unfair! it sure doesn't help to be the "good cop" when trying to instill some discipline into those mischievous ragamuffins. perhaps they find it tough to associate me with anything other than "fun":

Me: Do you love Mummy?
Xian: Yes.
Me: Why?
Xian: Because you very funny.
Me: Funny?
Xian: Ya!
Me: Like, how?
Xian: When you speak the funny French accent. And when you read the read the story books. Got many funny, funny accents. Very funny!

er...ok.

so now i know why xian loves me. that's some consolation. at least she didn't say she loves me only because i'm her mother.

it's heartening to discover that i'm loved because i'm a "funny mummy". i can live with that :P