Don’t Smile — Two Magic Words to Make Your Kids Happy

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The other day I was talking with my 24 year old nephew.  He was upset about some family stuff and the conversation was getting pretty heavy.  We both paused.  Then I looked at him and said my two magic words — “Don’t Smile!”  Despite everything, he couldn’t help himself!  A huge grin spread across his face.  Through his grin he told me “I use that on my 5 year old son.  I cannot believe it just worked on me.”

I almost couldn’t believe it either.  But I should know better then to doubt myself!  In my totally made-up and most likely completely inaccurate calculations – “Don’t Smile” has a 95% success rate.

Growing up is “super hard” and “parents just don’t understand” and we “never let them do anything!”  Time outs happen.  Then I get “I’m having the worst day!” from my kids as they mope away.

All I have to do is look at my kids, put on a grin, and sing-song “Don’t Smile” and they almost can’t help themselves!

Don't Smile Dallas Moms Blog

Mad and trying not to smile.

When tempers flair, when sharing seems impossible, any time a situation or attitude starts getting out of control – I pull a handy dandy “Don’t Smile” out of my pocket and things start to calm back down.

Sometimes I follow that up with a hug.  Sometimes they just need a minute to move on.  But it almost always helps us avoid a huge meltdown and gets my kids back to happy!

Even better news – I’ve successfully used “Don’t Smile” on my stepkids throughout their teenage years!  It doesn’t have quite as high a success rate.  But used at just the right moment (when they are not particularly happy with our plans or the way things are going) a simple “Don’t Smile” goes a long way to diffuse a bad situation.

Just try saying “Don’t Smile” without smiling.  Virtually impossible.

Maybe it’s my Velasquez genes – we don’t like being told what to do. Maybe it’s just the irony of being told not to smile by someone who is smiling.  Maybe it’s the sing-songy way we say it.  I don’t know the reason, but I do know it works for our family!  I’d love to hear if it works for yours!!

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