When Laughter Is In the House

Tony and I laugh. We laugh at "Two and a Half Men," we laugh at the stupid things we do because we are getting older. We laugh at the day's events when we both come home from work. But there is no better laughter in house than when Ben and Sam are over.

We got to have them over today for a few hours while Jon was building new beds for them and Jenna was shopping for sheets. Ben made me laugh. He willingly told me that he had to go to the potty and could do it himself. So he went in and shut the door. Sammy followed behind him going, "Potty, Potty???" but Ben said, "Sam, I need my privacy." And so Sammy waited quietly outside of the closed door. Ben finished up and ran into the "other" living room and proudly pulled down his jeans, showing me his tiny belly and long legs. "Look, Mo Mo," he said in a very excited voice, "I have on super hero under pants." And so he did. Sammy, who always wants to be just like Ben, showed me his diaper.

The next time I laughed was when I gave the kids lunch. I was feeding Sammy some yogurt and Ben was fixated on the TV. "Ben," I said, "eat your yogurt." Ben never took his eyes off of the TV but said to me, "I will, Mo Mo, but I can't go anywhere....I have to wait for Sponge Bob, he'll be back after these messages."

Ben told me about Thomas the Train's number. It's 1. There is a number 1 painted on the sign, so we went through everyone's number. "What is your mommy's number," I asked Ben? "I don't know," he replied. "Your mother's number is 34." I said. "No way," Ben replied. "Well, I asked, "how old do you think Mommy is?" Ben gave this some thought and said, "as old as Ty."

The best laughter came when Papa was home. Each boy, at some point, went to the kitchen door looking for Papa to return from the grocery store. And finally, there he was. Papa...the pilot who unlocked the airplanes, Papa the hero, Papa the entertainment.

Papa bravely got down on the floor with the boys and was the bucking horse, the rolling log, the bridge....anything they wanted. And during all of this...they all laughed. Ben and Sam and Papa. They laughed with the pure joy of being 2 and 4 and being able to push a grown man down to his knees and then on to the floor. They laughed as Papa pulled them over his shoulder and down to the floor. And they laughed as they climbed all over him. And Papa laughed too. It was Papa and his boys playing on the floor and he wouldn't have changed a minute of the time they were here.

Tony and I laugh. We laugh at "Two and a Half Men," but never so much as we do when our two lesser than half men are over. It was a good day.