Over the Christmas holidays our almost 3 year old has repeated a phrase
that has got me thinking.
After he has been told off for some sort of inappropriate behaviour he has got into the habit of saying ‘be happy’ to us. After I
noticed this was a sentence that repeated several times throughout our day I
decided to ask him what could be done so that mummy would ‘be happy’. To be
honest I was aiming for ‘being a good boy’ or ‘not doing that again’ to be the
response but to my surprise he said ‘smile mummy’. So I smiled and said ‘now
I’m happy I was just unhappy with what you did’.
Then I started to think ….
When I smile does he seem happier, does it work when I smile at the baby, what
about when I smile at my husband?
YES.
Every time I smile, I get a smile back
and they seem a little happier.
So, I sat down and discussed it with my husband. ‘When I
smile at you, do you feel happy?’ Well you can guess the answer…. Yes, of
course.
For 2015 we have decided new years resolutions are out and
the send a smile movement is born. We are encouraging the boys to smile at
people when they talk to them and we are going to smile more at people in
public and even more in our family.
We may never change the world but we may make it a slightly
happier place to be.
Because who can resist those cute toothy smiles of a
toddler and infectious giggles of a 3 year old?
Happy new year
