For several years before my mom died, we did the typical role reversal – child parenting parent. Now that she’s gone, I’m delighted to notice she’s back – parenting to the max in my head. She would be happy to know this, I think, because she had so many opinions and much good advice.

I thought of her this weekend when Taylor, my granddaughter, took her first splash in a backyard baby pool. It was just like mama said – “put a child in water and it’s calming.” Once out of the pool, Miss Tay took a plenty long snooze.

Same with my visit to a lake up near Cleveland. Listening to the water pound the rocks with the window open, and voila! Instant sleep.

Whether it’s rain on the roof, a real ocean, or one on CD, give mama’s advice a try if you’re stressed. Be a water baby.

Meet Henry, the much-loved dog of German Village resident Mary B. Relotto. “Mary B,” as she’s known, has just won a contest I ran to name the cartoon dog on the cover of my upcoming book of columns and stress relief tips, The Dog Ate My Planner.

The name she sent in, of course, was “Henry”, in honor of her own dog, who she says is so wise that if he ever ate her planner, it would be to send her the message: “Slow down sister!” 

 “Wow!” I thought.  “Henry must be a genius!  A stress-relief guru!”

Just looking at him relieves my stress, which brings me to the Aha! moment that came from talking with dog-lovers who wanted to win a drawing of their own favorite pet, drawn by the book’s illustrator, Michael H. Whiting. 

Although the dog in The Dog is a pesky creature that stands for all the “dogs” in our life that disrupt our plans, these dog people have me convinced: The world would be a happier place if everyone owned a real dog.  

OK. I know everyone can’t.  Thanks to my husband’s allergies, I have rare visiting privileges in Dog Land.  And some prefer cats, ferrets, guinea pigs or goldfish.  

But it’s enormously fun to mingle with dog people. What great stories they tell!  All with a smile. 

In case you, too, have been dog-deprived, here’s what I now know:

You can have your mutt’s DNA tested, to see what he really is.  But the word is they all turn out to be 50% German shepherd.  Huh?

Dogs can get dementia.  One woman said she had to medicate hers because he got Sundowner’s Syndrome and wandered around the house all night. 

There really are gourmet pet bakeries and dog washes, little shops with tubs where you can drop off your muddy-footed pooch after a rainy day trip to the park while you go off and sip a Cappuccino.  But if your buddy has separation anxiety, I’m told it might be better to get the Cappuccino to go and stay right there with him. 

There are pet parties where dog ware is sold like Tupperware, and the hostess wins a prize.  And there are dog parks where only dogs (like only children) go to socialize and their owners stand by nervously hoping the Doberman or Rottweiler who belongs to someone else had more than a gourmet cookie for lunch. (Apologies to Doberman and Rottweiler owners).

None of this would I have known if I had not been cruising through the alternate universe of canine-lovers, looking for dog names.

Now I must admit that I bumped into a few folks who had run into problems with dogs just as pesky as the mythical ones in my book.  The runner-up, Carolyn Fergus of Wesley Glen retirement community in Clintonville, recalled how her lab Dinah had once eaten her checkbook.  (“Not the checks, the transaction register for the previous nine months”).  She named my dog “Trouble.”

Cat-lovers and anyone else who’d like to comment about the value of dogs are welcome to do so here.  And don’t forget to check out the great list of other suggested names in the home page story (”We Have A Winner!”) – just in case you decide to get a dog. I’d recommend it.

Good Grief: Why Am I Laughing At A Time Like This? 

Grieving is hard work.  It can’t be laughed away.  But finding  humor during the grieving process can give us a needed vacation from the trenches of grief and hope that life goes on. 

Pat Snyder, who lost her husband in May 2009, will show how the techniques she used for finding humor in an overbooked can also help find humor in times of loss.     

Humor Helps: Develop Your Sense of Humor and Survive Hard Times

Have the daily news and economy got you down? Let Pat Snyder show you how to develop a sense of humor that can get you through. She knows.

For nearly a decade she’s chronicled her own travails in her regular humor column, Balancing Act. Looking for the light, ironic side of life has honed her humor-finding skills and helped her survive everything from her mom’s declining health and husband’s long-term illness to the ups and downs of practicing law and raising kids. So the stock market takes a belly flop? “What else is new?” she says.

 The Dog Ate My Planner

In this motivational speech, consistent with her book by the same name this year, Pat shares how we can benefit from the missteps and downturns in our lives.

She’ll include excerpts from the book along with some practical leash laws to help make the chaos of 21st century life more inspiring than overwhelming.

The Healing Power of Humor

In a lively speech specially designed for caregivers, Pat talks about ways that laughter and humor can help the caregiver relieve his own stress and also connect with the patient.

This talk is suitable for those who care for the chronically ill of any age as well as elderly parents whose physical and/or mental health is failing.

To book Pat for a speech, get in touch by using the contact form.

In these distracting financial hard times, book Pat for a workshop that uses humor to relieve stress and spark creativity. The following workshops can be adapted to fill time periods ranging from 1 to 4 hours and make perfect programs for businesses that want to boost the power of their all-important human resources, for couples’ and caregivers’ retreats and for writing workshops.

The Dog Ate My Planner: Humor Journaling To Relieve Stress

In this workshop inspired by her soon-to-be-released book of the same name, humorist Pat Snyder will guide participants through the healing exercise of keeping a “dog journal” that chronicles the dogs (food? fashion? kids? parents? electronic gadgets?) that gobble up their plans and keep them from living picture-perfect lives. Participants will learn to spot life’s absurdities and over-the-top moments and deal with them through humor. Fee includes a blank journal that can be customized to fit the dogs in your very own life and a bottle of (very pet-friendly) dog repellant.

The Eight-Day Week: Tackling Time Management With Humor

In this workshop, humorist Pat Snyder shares 13 light-hearted ways to give yourself an extra day’s worth of joy in your overbooked week. Participants will learn how to build joy breaks into their already packed calendars for stress relief and fun. Wear comfortable clothes, and bring your planner. Color-coded markers and stickers will be provided for the very compulsive.

Caring, Not Wearing: Caregivers Need A Laugh

Are you a home caregiver or someone who takes care of others as part of your job? Let humorist Pat Snyder help you lighten up your days with the healing power of humor. Learn to custom-make a humor first-aid kit for your own home or workplace with laughter exercises, humor breaks, joy journaling and techniques used by humor writers to tickle your funny bone.

A Funny Thing Happened: Bringing Your Humorous Tales to the Page

Every one has an amusing story to tell. Let humorist Pat Snyder help you take your own funny stories from amusing to amazing, using techniques that humor writers use. This workshop that will teach you to brainstorm, draft, share, review and revise your own stories, compile them into a collection as family gift books, family reunion collections or blogs, incorporate them into speeches you give at work and in the community, and even find publication outlets to share them with the world.

Belly Laugh To Your Aha! Moment (general audience)

Scientific studies show that humor boosts creativity. And that’s no laughing matter. The mental twists and turns we take to “get the joke” could be just the re-wiring we need to find a cure for cancer, a new market for eco-friendly cleaning cloths, or even fix a paper jam in the copier. Join humorist Pat Snyder to explore how humor can solve your problems, boost your creativity, or move you forward on your next project.

Belly Laugh To Your Aha! Moment (for writers)

Scientific studies show that humor boosts creativity. That’s why you don’t have to be a humor writer to benefit from this writers workshop. Anyone who has ever experienced writers block is welcome. The mental twists and turns we take to “get the joke” could be just the re-wiring we need to find our story arc, improve our timing, or incorporate a touch of humor into any genre. Join humorist Pat Snyder to explore how humor works and try some creativity-boosting exercises.

Write Your Own Column

Do you enjoy writing? work better under the pressure of a regular deadline? know lots and lots about a specialized subject? Even though it’s tough to break into print journalism these days, online opportunities abound. Let humor columnist and blogger Pat Snyder show you the ins and outs of expressing yourself and marketing your work in a column format, whether on the page or online.

Stepping Lightly In A Stepfamily

Think that life in your stepfamily is no laughing matter? Think again. Humorist Pat Snyder has survived stepfamily life, and once (when she was younger and more innocent) actually co-authored an advice column on surviving it. Later, after several visitation meltdowns, she concluded that maintaining a sense of humor was the best advice. Come learn how to use humor-writing techniques to distance yourself from the inevitable stresses of life in a blended family and learn some laughter exercises that will help you through the non-Kodak moments.

Book Pat for a laughter event by contacting her. Fees vary depending on the length of event and location.