My 12-year-old son, Ryan, has been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). My 5-year-old son, Sean, has been diagnosed as being mildly to moderately autistic with Asperger's Syndrome. And my wife has diagnosed me as having ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), among other things.
To say our household is stress-filled is a gross understatement.
But we try to balance out the chaos and sibling screamfests with laughter and frivolity. If we dwelled too much on the daily dramas, we'd never be able to get out of bed in the mornings (Of course, there is the occasional weekend morning when my wife will holler at me that 'it's time to get up' and I will retort the proverbial 'Don't want to, can't make me.').
So, when we're not shouting above the shouting to tell the boys to stop shouting, we try and be silly and find humor even in the darkness.
Often when I come home from work, my wife will greet me with a 'Welcome to Hell House'. And, after a few minutes in 'Hell House', I will jokingly mumble, "Uh, I think I have to go back to work now.". As always, she reminds me that she knows where I live.
The point is, humor can be the best kind of stress management. Whether it's being goofy to distract the kids from their anger and/or frustration or if it's mine and my wife's own brand of twisted cynicism that keeps us hanging onto that last thread of sanity and sobriety.
Laugh in the ugly face of chaos and relax, don't take it too seriously, because you'll have to do it all over again tomorrow.