The Anatomy of a Smile...
She's a very happy girl...a very smiley girl, if that's an actual adjective. We're almost always bombarded with the observation.
"Oh my, is she ever a happy baby."
"Wow. Look at that smile."
"I can't believe how much she smiles."
She does smile...a lot...and they take over her face like a wave rolling toward the beach, a watery bump building and heaving, then craning up toward sky, cresting, and finally falling and collapsing on the shore. It sneaks up slowly across her face and then consumes it.
From the moment we brought her home from the hospital there were smiles. Early on I'm sure it was just gas, but as the weeks passed it became obvious that whenever her cheeks bulged and her eyes disappeared we were in the presence of a smile.
What once was subtle and creeping quickly grew wider and all consuming, and before long we were seeing the beginnings of something much too terribly sweet. We started worrying about what kind of damage that smile was going to be capable of, and we're starting to think that we're in for a lot of trouble.
I imagine that every baby smiles, but no, it's not true. Most do, and many do a lot, but Maggie never stops. It really is one of her most defining characteristics. She's a happy baby, and has been through new teeth, long road trips, days without poop, colds, and at least a dozen other random scenarios that would wipe the smile off of your average face. I'm pretty sure that if it took a week for me to rid myself of waste there'd be no smiles. Don't underestimate the power of a smile.
Consider a happy home versus anything other than that, and it's no stretch to imagine the stream of health and humor and comfort and stability that flows along with it. Money can't do that for a child. They have no concept. Material objects might manage to inspire a smile for a short time, but take the objects away and so goes the smile. A truly happy child, and an undeniably happy home change a child. Love and nurturing and respect and space and support and investment and an assortment of all of those other seemingly simple things can be the difference, I'm certain, between the healthiest and happiest child, and every other one. I'd bet my life on it.
Read all the books you want. Spend as much money as you can. Give your child whatever their heart desires, but spend every moment of every day ensuring that they are happy and safe and comfortable, and watch them blossom into something impressive. Make your child happy and then stand back and watch them brighten the planet with a glow that you can't manufacture. Smile factories these girls might be, but there's no outsourcing of raw materials. Everything is made right here, in-house. It makes a difference.
"Oh my, is she ever a happy baby."
"Wow. Look at that smile."
"I can't believe how much she smiles."
She does smile...a lot...and they take over her face like a wave rolling toward the beach, a watery bump building and heaving, then craning up toward sky, cresting, and finally falling and collapsing on the shore. It sneaks up slowly across her face and then consumes it.
From the moment we brought her home from the hospital there were smiles. Early on I'm sure it was just gas, but as the weeks passed it became obvious that whenever her cheeks bulged and her eyes disappeared we were in the presence of a smile.
What once was subtle and creeping quickly grew wider and all consuming, and before long we were seeing the beginnings of something much too terribly sweet. We started worrying about what kind of damage that smile was going to be capable of, and we're starting to think that we're in for a lot of trouble.
I imagine that every baby smiles, but no, it's not true. Most do, and many do a lot, but Maggie never stops. It really is one of her most defining characteristics. She's a happy baby, and has been through new teeth, long road trips, days without poop, colds, and at least a dozen other random scenarios that would wipe the smile off of your average face. I'm pretty sure that if it took a week for me to rid myself of waste there'd be no smiles. Don't underestimate the power of a smile.
Consider a happy home versus anything other than that, and it's no stretch to imagine the stream of health and humor and comfort and stability that flows along with it. Money can't do that for a child. They have no concept. Material objects might manage to inspire a smile for a short time, but take the objects away and so goes the smile. A truly happy child, and an undeniably happy home change a child. Love and nurturing and respect and space and support and investment and an assortment of all of those other seemingly simple things can be the difference, I'm certain, between the healthiest and happiest child, and every other one. I'd bet my life on it.
Read all the books you want. Spend as much money as you can. Give your child whatever their heart desires, but spend every moment of every day ensuring that they are happy and safe and comfortable, and watch them blossom into something impressive. Make your child happy and then stand back and watch them brighten the planet with a glow that you can't manufacture. Smile factories these girls might be, but there's no outsourcing of raw materials. Everything is made right here, in-house. It makes a difference.
posted by Unknown at
3:31 PM
1 Comments:
How adorable!! Smiles are one of the best things in the world. I am blessed to have a daughter that smiles alot too and they are contagious so I must smile equally as much.
Brian, I'd be smiling if I had a Dad as great as you too :)
M.A.
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