Comic Relief

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“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” – Mark Twain

By the time I got my kids hustled to the car on the first day of school, everyone was a little frayed by nervous energy. Getting the tags off the new clothes, squeezing into new shoes, packaging up the gift for the teacher, and taking the first day picture, all added to the excitement and anticipation of the moment.

The night before I’d told Miss O and Mr. D about my big first day feelings that usually showed up as nerves for the first attendance call. When the teacher would call out, “Mary?” I would blush deep scarlet and have to correct them because my full name is Mary Wynne and I have always gone by my middle name.

In preparation for the moment, I’d sit and think who else had to speak up on the first day. My friend, Katie, had to say something when they called her “Katherine” and my friend, Jiffy, had to interject when “Jennifer” was called out. But in the myopia of childhood, I was sure mine was the hardest.

Back to this week, Mr. D had his first day of school one day before his sister and since he’s in the same pre-school classroom, it wasn’t as momentous. But he was still picking up on Miss O’s first day of third grade vibes. So the car was pretty subdued as we pulled out of the driveway and as we turned left onto the busy road that would take us to school, I heard something very rare when in the car with my two kids – silence.

Then something caught my eye out the window on Mr. D’s side – a toilet seat lying on the sidewalk next to a business. Not the ring part but the lid part. I started to say, “Is that a..” when Mr. D chimed in “a toilet seat?” Miss O craned her neck to see out the other window more easily. And then we laughed the rest of the way to school.

Thank goodness for some comic relief reminding us not to take this sh!t too seriously.

P.S. For anyone wondering which teacher Miss O, got after her careful analysis of the options, and my work to stay out of it, as described in The Gift of Hard Things. She got the one she was neutral about – and loves her.

P.P.S. Interjecting humor at just the right time reminds me of my beloved dad. Check out this podcast where we let Brian (writingfromtheheartwithbrian.com) interview us about how we came to writing family memoirs even though our jobs are not as professional writers. Episode 34: How To: Writing Personal Narratives

57 thoughts on “Comic Relief”

  3. Oh my goodness. You’re adding all new imagery into ‘mic drop’ moments with the toilet lid imagery. And your description of the quiet in the car? Oh…so much heavy, contemplative “stuff” going on en route to school. Inquiring minds want to know, though. Is the pic you included the *actual* lid in question? Did it get a photo op on your return trip??? 🤣

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    1. Yes, that’s the actual lid. After school we walked down to the corner to see it in person. We love our toilet lid. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Although Mr. D is very committed to picking up garbage, I had to insist he leave that one where it was and now we look at it every day. 🙂

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    1. I love where you went with this, Todd. Yep, we’ve been imagining how all week. Our favorite is that someone was hauling their toilet in the back of their pickup and someone was sitting on the toilet when they went around the corner too quickly and BOTH the person sitting on the toilet and the lid flew off… 🙂 But everyone was okay, of course!

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  5. “Thank goodness for some comic relief reminding us not to take this sh!t too seriously.” Bwahaha! Thank you so much for this LOL-in-a-reminder (or is it reminder-in-a-LOL?)! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Cooper is now yours all day…I think humor will continue to be a necessity during this navigation. Maybe the toilet seat would help to serve as a new toy… 😉

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  9. I love the fact that something as ordinary as a toilet lid can be funny and make everybody laugh… unexpected object, unexpected place, unexpected time, unexpected humour. They won’t remember what they did on the first day of school, but they will remember the toilet lid!

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  11. Great story and how nice to have some comic relief. We saw Jay Leno live and he talked about how his father took a toilet seat into a hardware store to find a replacement and how embarrassed he was. It got a lot of laughs.

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  14. My first thought upon seeing the photo was, “What IS that?” Then the instant answer. A toilet seat cover. My next question is, did you stop on the way TO or FROM school to take a photo of it? LOL. You are so right—there is nothing like a little comic relief to neutralize the pressure amidst the turmoil of a sticky situation!

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    1. I love how in-tune you and Vicki are with each other, Julia! 🙂 Yes, we had to take a walk down to properly visit the toilet lid after school. BTW, Vicki said you came up with her next book title – Loving Lisa. I love it!! ❤ ❤ ❤

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  19. Nothing like a little toilet humour to break the tension. Reading this reminded me of those nervous first days for sure. How I forget sometimes as an adult what that first day for a kid feels like. It’s a big deal.

    Glad to hear Ms O loves her teacher and I hope the rest of the year goes well for all of you. We made it through Week 1! 🙏💕

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    1. You are so right about the first day of school being a big deal. Yes! I hope you all had a good week and that T likes his teacher. Here’s to making it through week 1 !!

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  20. Inquiring minds need to know. Did Mr D take a pix and use it for “Show and Tell?” No, probably not, but still some great comic relief. Glad the kiddos found a way to laugh. Funny how laughter helps us overcome first day jitters!!! Glad Ms O is liking her teacher!!!!

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  21. That was a very serendipitous moment with the toilet lid! Broke their nervousness no doubt. Happy return to school!

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