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Community Corner

Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh

A stand up comedian provides stressed out moms with a way to get through those inevitable tough days.

Let’s face it, being a mom isn’t always easy. Yes, as moms, we love our kids unconditionally but, like anyone else, we also have our bad days. As a matter of fact, I don’t know of a single mom who doesn’t occasionally have days that simply can’t end soon enough.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we should all just give up and admit defeat.  You’ve heard the old saying that laughter is the best medicine and, for moms especially, it couldn’t be truer.

Perhaps no one knows this better than stand up comedian Jerry Caruso.  Along with his comedy career, Caruso is the co-founder of “Comics for a Cure,” a comedy instructor and, at the same time, specializes in motivational speeches titled, “Laughter is The Best Medicine.”

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“Many are unaware of how laughter helps the brain, heart, lungs, stomach and the bloodstream to name a few,” explained Caruso. “It’s how we survive.”

So what, you might ask, does a man know about motherhood? Well, in Caruso’s case he is both a father and a grandfather and, for a time while unemployed, he was a stay at home Dad also. I think any mom will agree that this serves as some serious experience in our world.

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As moms we strive to find a perfect balance when it comes to discipline and, for Caruso, humor was a big part of his child rearing technique. 

“I was always the funny man is our house but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t lay down the law,” said Caruso. “I’d say goofy things to the kids but, at the same time, when I asked them to do something they always listened.”

Of course, a little bit of trickery wasn’t unheard of too.  “I’d make up funny stories to get them to go to bed on time,” Caruso recalls.

Even in a house filled with humor, however, there were bad days. 

“Of course there can be stress,” Caruso said. “You have to laugh your way through it and help avoid the pitfalls.”

Every mom knows that there are always those occasions when, much to our chagrin, we say some pretty dumb things. Whether they are idle threats or completely illogical statements we sometimes simply can’t stops ourselves in time.  

“At the end of the night when the kids are in bed all you can really do is laugh at yourself," he said. "In the long run we all become our parents occasionally and, the longer we raise our own kids, the more and more we realize it.

There are, of course, the special moments with our kids that make up for all the stress.  For Caruso one of those moments came when he was asked to do a comedy show for his daughter’s third grade classroom. 

His daughter announced him and, even now, Caruso remembers her words.

“Ladies and gentlemen I’d like to introduce you to the funniest man I know, my daddy!,” she exclaimed to her classmates.

A little nervous about taking his act to the classroom, the introduction led way to huge success proving that, sometimes, our children can help us out just as much as we help them.

Each one of us can take a lesson from Caruso and approach the trials and tribulations of motherhood with a smile and a sense of humor. 

“You don’t want to be the person that your kids think isn’t fun,” Caruso pointed out. “It’s my job to make people laugh and I did the same thing with my kids.  I wanted to teach them that there’s a silver lining to every situation.”

You can learn more about Jerry Caruso on his website on contact him by email.

The most important lesson Caruso can teach is a simple one.

“Laughter is the best medicine and the best thing you can do for your children is to pass the laughter on,” said Caruso.

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