Is that fun and easy?

Ahh, to be 7 again. As we grow older, it seems that we forget to be lighthearted. While assembling a new electronic gift and reviewing the instruction manual, my 7 year old was edging her head in to get a glimpse of what was being accomplished. She asked, “Is that fun and easy, Mom?” I had to pause. How would you answer that question? I hardly had the heart to tell her the truth, so I lied. “It is fun and easy,” I said back to her, smiling. I had to laugh out loud. She seemed so satisfied with that answer.

Now, I try to remember how she lifted the mood in the room with that simple question. Things really do not need to be as mundane and even painful as we make them appear. My husband and I tend to engage in a few do-it-yourself projects that don’t always go over gracefully. Don’t get me wrong, the job gets done and the project works, but graceful, not so much. My role, in these projects, is to be ready for anything, and (this is key) to be ready quick. I need to be well versed in tool talk. When he asks for a phillips screwdriver, I clarify if that is that the flat one or the cross one. Okay, so I need to brush up on the tool lingo, but if attitude is everything, then I'm seriously a team player here. When he was on his back, under the sink, balancing on his upper back and feet only, sweating while trying to connect the new water line to the new faucet, and water is dripping like clockwork onto his forehead, I squeezed my my head in there and asked, “Is that fun and easy?” It is a mood lifter. You should try it.