Smiles

One of my duties here at school each day is to wait with the kindergarten through 2nd grade children who are picked up by their parents each day. Everyday I see children’s faces light up with huge delighted smiles as their parents come to pick them up. The kids are genuinely happy to see their parents. This is emotion sharing at its best. This is one of my favorite times of the day to see the connection these children have with their mom or dad. What a great gift and it’s free!

I know that when I’m having a bad day or things just are going exactly how I want them to a smile from one of my students can just turn everything around. I love the smiles I get when we have worked really hard on something and they finally are making progress or have achieved something or when we are just having fun enjoying the activity. It makes your heart sing and you can’t help, but smile back. Just sitting here typing about smiling is making me smile.

Smiling is contagious just try it and you’ll see. The next time you are at the mall or grocery store or anywhere there are several people try smiling at some strangers. You’ll be amazed at how many people can’t help, but smile back at you. It’s a fun experiment and I love trying this out. I also like to smile at people who are looking very grumpy. It might be my smile that lightens there day a bit you never know.

So for those of you with a child on the spectrum that are part of the RDI(rt) program that may not get many smiles yet don’t lose hope they are coming.

See you next Thursday,
Erin
(Just as a side note smiling takes less muscles than frowning so try a few more smiles.)