Smile!

 

“Mommy, I love you.”

“Thank you, Buddy. I love you too!”

“Does that make you smile, Mommy? When I tell you that I love you?”

“Yes, baby. It makes me smile REALLY big.”

 

This was just a small sample of a conversation I had with my 4-year old while I was preparing lunch this past week. It had been a long week with three straight days that we didn’t leave our house (or our pajamas) due to sickness…first Big Brother, then Little Brother.

Although this exchange seems extremely sweet and somewhat typical for a little boy and his Mama, it made me ask myself a question…

Do I really smile at my children during the day?

Do I do it enough?

Of course I smile at them when they do something silly or when they tell me they love me. Is that it, though? Do I smile throughout the day to display the immense joy I feel inside of me? Or is a scowl of irritation the more prominent facial expression these days?

Unfortunately, I think the answer is that I don’t smile nearly as much as I should….which is absolutely crazy for me because I am a ‘smiler’ by nature. I love to smile!

They bring me SO MUCH joy and I need to reflect this joy in my face…even if I am a wee bit irritated at the thought of breaking up yet another fight.

So, I’m challenging myself to something (I know, I know…I am really bad at following through with these “challenges” I place on myself).

I am going to make a conscious effort to smile when I see my child(ren).  Whether that’s turning around and seeing him, seeing him when he wakes up in the morning, or even when he comes out of his room for the umpteenth time that night. Sure, the smile might eventually be followed up with some discipline…but above all, I want our boys to know that they are loved. And what better way to express that than to smile?

Obviously, it won’t go perfectly…just like nothing ever does when I am part of the equation. I won’t remember to smile all the time, but even if I smile one or two more times than I normally do…it will be worth it!

“A happy heart makes the face cheerful…” -Proverbs 15:13

Lord, help me to choose to have a happy heart and a happy face!

After all…

“Your day will go the way the corners of your mouth turn.”

12 Comments

  1. I totally relate. I don’t smile enough either. I read about this same idea in a book a couple years ago. I do think about it more, but I still don’t smile as often as I would like to. Gotta keep on trying to achieve it more and more!

  2. Great reminder! And beautiful picture!! I’ve been wondering a similiar thing lately, “Do I see my kids?!” Meaning, do I really look at them and enjoy them in all they are doing? Or do I merely look and get back to what I am doing at the moment? With two littles, it seems like our days just fly by and I look at my oldest and think, “oh my gosh… how did you get to be 4.5?! alredy?!” I really really need to work on seeing my kids more and not trying to hurry through to the next thing!

  3. Thank you Thank you Thank you. This is just so encouraging. I need to smile more too. I want my kids to remember me like that, smiling.

  4. I was just thinking this VERY thing!! Interesting :) yes. I also will make a goal for myself to smile more!
    The verse my daughter and I are memorizing is
    Proverbs 22:17
    A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

    So this really of fits in. My facial expressions are SO very important when trying to teach my children to choose joy. Great read! Thanks for posting!

  5. Love it. Whenever I watch the Duggars I notice how much the mom SMILES. Even in a snowstorm with no power she chooses to see it as an adventure, knowing the kids will follow her lead. I need to work on this too, and at having a soft voice. Thanks for the reminder.

  6. Great suggestions – thank you! I just shared this on our Positive Parenting Solutions FB page. A smile can make all the difference! Keep up the wonderful work inspiring parents.

  7. I think is the most important lesson that my older son’s kindergarden teachers have taught me: SMILE and take the most you can smiling with your child.

    Hence everyday I try to smile and to find irony also in the little things

    And for my children simple and funny stories are something that I have tried to teach as they are humouristic and one excercise we often do is to draw sketches and to find sentences to describe them as in the

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