the giggles

the giggles....

they come at the most inopportune time ~ church, family devotions, sitting in a class
they come up most unexpectedly, and give no warning
as a slow smile begins to spread across your face;
your shoulders begin to shake, you begin to sweat, you agonize why you wore such a bright coloured shirt so that everyone can see you shaking, you try to think of a sobering thought, you pinch yourself, you try to smother the giggles with a cough and it comes out more like a snort - just to add to the awefuless of it all, it is a horrid feeling as the giggles sweep over you

Growing up with all sisters there were many fits of giggles and it usually happened when my dad was trying to read the Bible after supper. My dad would look to my mom for support only to see her shoulders shaking and her face turning red from trying to keep the giggles in. You see, us girls came by it honestly. When we were in trouble we would only have to give mom our mastered look and she could no longer discipline us. She had a hard time trying to look angry at us and at the same time trying not to smile. So my mom, in great wisdom, would tell us to turn around and then she would turn around and that is how we would get our lecture. Back to back. Some of you are probably thinking that this explains it all! I do not ever remember walking out of church because of a bathroom need but I do remember on a few occasions walking out because I could not stop laughing. I am sure that my sisters have the same story.
Our boys often have fits of laughter and it frustrates Adam to no end especially because he has no support from me. I tell him that my dad had to put up with much worse but that doesn't seem to help matters. I tell him that the boys also come by it honestly and the sad thing is that the giggles are with you for life. The one good thing is that our boys haven' t mastered "the look" yet. They still get in trouble without me trying to hide a smirk.  Adam tells me that the giggles are all about control. I tell him that you can no more control the giggles than you can control "the runs". The giggles are that uncontrollable!