Burps

Everyone burps, right?

And when you have a tiny baby, these burps are music to your ears. It is part of the feeding ritual that you go through with your new baby every few hours. And as we all know, every noise that your baby makes is just precious and music to your ears. Strangely enough, even formerly offensive noises are wonderful. Gas makes you happy because it makes them feel better.

Now, when describing my babies today, I would not use the adjective "new" to describe them. Do I still think that every noise that they make is precious? Well, not so much. But I try to roll with it and hope that someday the mere sound of a bodily function will not produce crazy laughter. And then I look at my 34 year old husband who is also beside himself with crazy laughter and realize that "someday" may never come.

So anyway, one night at supper everyone was particularly low and in really bad moods. I was practically tap dancing to get everyone to be nice and perk up. I got nothing in return. They were still in the dumps. Then someone burped a little burp. And I flashed back to a game that we all used to play as kids. Whenever someone burps, you have to put your thumb in the middle of your forehead with your fingers up. And the last person to do this has to "eat" the burp. Charming, right? Well, I was desperate and willing to try anything to turn our supper frown upside down. So I just threw my hand up there. David remembered this game, too, so he threw his hand up to his forehead. They looked at us like we were NUTS. So we explained to them what this game was all about. Needless to say, our supper turned out fine.

Everyone had fun and I feel confident that our digestion was aided by the multiple times that we burped.

"

Better out than in" according to Shrek and Fiona, right?

Well, toward the end of our supper, I explained to them that this was a game to play at home only. I did not want them going to school and embarrassing me, you know? I mean, I like people thinking that David and I are model parents who would never condone such a thing, much less teach it to them. They both agreed to keep it just between us. I guess I should have known. . .

A few weeks later, we were at Jessa's school Valentine's Day party. There were several moms there to help. I was handling the veggie tray. It was such a nice party. Kids excited about their cards. Lots of red and white and pink decorations were all over the place. Really a nice party, you know? And as I was walking around helping to pass out the healthy snacks that we were serving at the party, I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes. The group of desks where Jessa and Spencer were sitting had about 10 kids. And ALL 10 of them had their thumbs pressed to their foreheads with their fingers outstretched, giggling. My eyes fell on Jessa who was beaming with pride at how much all of her friends enjoyed this new game she taught them.

So much for keeping it at home.

So much for our image as model parents.

I was so proud.

Really.