Starting off the day with a smile doesn’t come naturally to me. Cumulative sleep-deprivation and needing to rush into the routine of each morning for the two little ones doesn’t give me time, energy or the disposition to smile. It’s something I often need to choose to do, and that’s apparently not a bad thing since choosing to smile can actually make you happy, so the research goes. Yet there are also the special little moments that come my way where I break out of my mundane and can’t help but burst into smile. This week, I’m grateful for the things that make me smile…..
* Pretty much every post from blog, Parenting Illustrated with Crappy Pictures.
* Miss T eagerly bringing home a bunch of flowers for me that she bought with daddy at the market.
* Miss T telling me she loves me, even maybe just a little more than daddy. (ooops!)
* Lil S bursting into a huge smile after she wakes from a nap as I enter the room.
* Lil S tilting her head sideways to inspect people and things, as she is wont to do.
* Lil S squealing and waving her arms with glee as the theme from “Thomas the Tank Engine” comes up on the TV while Miss T spins and dances.
* Miss T and Lil S “reading” books as the sit next to each other on the floor. Bless!
.
Are you a natural “smiler”? What makes you smile?
.
.
.
Related Posts
.
***************
Linking with *Maxabella Loves… for 52 Weeks of Grateful hosted at Kidspot.
Mixed Gems 
Lovely things to make you smile! I love Parenting Illustrated with Crappy Pictures too – classic! I loved the one this morning about taking your kids to the park (playground). Oh my – could soooo relate to it!
Isn’t it wonderful to take notice of the beautiful details of what our kids say and do? Inspite of all our exhaustion, that’s the golden moments that make it all worthwhile! And I think its important to write them down so that we can remember them for years to come (and to look at them now to cheer us up!). Lovely post, V!
Parenting Illustrated with Crappy Pictures is so great because it helps me see the amusing side of some frustrating situations. It also helps remind me that almost all of us face similar experiences. She’s got a lot of insight!
I am trying to record as much as I can about my family but I am so far behind in my journalling and record keeping. I need to keep trying to catch up somehow though. I can’t believe how easy it was to fall so very far behind!
Love it V!
The little things are the things that make you smile the biggest aren’t they!
I am doing my best to smile – like REALLY smile – now.
Have a fabulous day!! xxx
Thanks, Donna. I think the little things help bring a perspective shift and sometimes that’s just what I need to get through a frustrating day! Hope you are finding moments to keep you smiling and laughing too.
Oh, they are so cute. Lately my kids have been trying to sell me their books instead of reading them!
Thanks, Tat. That’s so funny your kids trying to sell you books. Maybe they are entrepreneurs in the making! Or maybe they want some pocket money! lol!
Wonderful little moments to be grateful for. I find I get through the day much easier if I stop and smile at those little things.
Thanks, Melissa. The little things help shift my perspective just when I really need it sometimes!
Nice grateful list! I’m a natural smiler I think!
It’s great that smiling comes so naturally for you! I do smile, of course, but I know it’s not my first reaction. It should be more often though. Then I’d probably have more smile lines around my eyes than frown lines on my forehead!
That really is a great list ! Lots of things make me smile – friends, the twinlets giving each other an impromptu hug and kiss, my husband doing an imitation of Igglepiggle. Oh wait. That gets me into a belly laugh 😀
I’d like to see the Iggle Piggle imitation! Now that would be worth a belly laugh!
There is lots to smile about in your world, Veronica. I love that picture you found and I LOVE the image of your girls reading together. Smiling now! x
Thanks, Bron. I love the sunflower pic too. They are wonderful, happy flowers. Being grateful and finding things to smile about is something worth training myself to do.
Those are all lovely things! (and happy that my blog brings a smile too) I know what you mean about watching them be excited about bringing flowers, such a sweet thing to see them happy about doing something nice, isn’t it? Thanks for all the happy reminders!
Thanks, Amber. Your blog indeed brings more than a smile most days. A few laughs to be more precise! You’ve a great insight into life as a parent and your children. Thanks for sharing those experiences so well. And you’ve shown me that I don’t need to draw (or maybe even write or craft) immaculately to get a point across. I’m still trying to reform my perfectionism!
A lovely post Veronica… I think we all struggle to wake up smiling as such. Looking at my boyfriend asleep in bed as I’m leaving for work never fails to make me smile & sunlight in the morning. (It’s winter here at the moment we’re more likely to see the Ice Queen of Narnia than some sunshine!)
Thanks, Charis. I love that my little girl who is a week from one can wake up, see me, her sister or father and burst into a smile. I guess it’s us adults who sometimes feel like we’re carrying the weight of the world, who wake up frowning under that. I can see the appeal in Peter Pan’s world!