What's Behind Us

If you think this post is going to be a profound reflection on the things that have happened in our pasts, you might want to stop reading now.  You're going to be disappointed.  And possibly a little shocked.  Because I'm writing about something else that's behind us.  Consider this Friday (Eve) Frivolity, if you like.

My children are totally amused by their butts.  AKA - bottom, bum, rear, behind, derriere, hinder (a family fave).  Our younger daughter Scarlett (4) frequently announces that she's got a wedgie in her bootie, and she thinks it's hilarious.  I'm not sure what it is about the posterior that is so humorous, but a lot of our funny moments in this house have to do with that particular feature.

I don't even remember what happened to whom, but one of the girls fell and cried, "I think I broke my butt!"  When I said, "Oh no!  It's got a crack in it!"  Sobs turned to laughter.  Gotta love the classics.

A couple weeks ago, Sierra (8) was in the shower.  We have glass doors, and once the doors steam up, it's fun to make handprints, footprints, and nose-prints on the glass.  And well, you know what came next.  That particular day, she made 2 butt-prints and said, "Look, Mom!  If you make 2 butt-prints, it looks like a butterfly!"  This is an observation I'd previously been ignorant of.  And today, in the shower again, Sierra made her butterfly and said, "Mom, is that why they call it a BUTTerfly?" 

I'll have to Google that.

There's nothing quite as amusing as bath time at our house.  Because neither child can get out of the bathtub or shower without doing "a bootie dance" for the other, prompting her sister to laugh hysterically.  I suppose I should tell them it's inappropriate, but frankly, it's just way too funny.  And they do know that similar dancing elsewhere is not appropriate.

As adults, we try to be more serious and mature about what's behind us.  We sit on it faithfully, but otherwise, we try to ignore it, or we're critical of its magnitude or topography.  But today, I was particularly grateful for my behind, as a slippery floor and gravity got the better of me.  I could've been seriously injured, but thanks to my posterior cushioning system (PCS), I'm fine, other than the aforementioned crack.  And frankly, I thought it was pretty funny (other than a sore toe).

In the last 8 years, I've learned to see the humor in a lot of things that really didn't seem funny before.  My children introduce me to hilarity I'd never see on my own, and I'm grateful.  So, my friends, laugh.  It's healing.  And fun.  And essential.