Did I smile at my children enough?  

Are you kidding as a retired teacher i have seen this hundreds and hundreds of times I have seen a 5 year old on stage do absolutely nothing while his peer classmates danced and sang yet the joy and smiles from the inactive child's family was everything you say you saw We love in different ways some show emotion others may not be as animated but feel just as deeply Perception is a a strange thing and we all view whatever in our own private way I have read enough of your topics to assure you you love as much as possible and it is so evident you are a great mom and trust me because i know all things (Hehe) "Oh Lord its hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way " ......They donot allow jokes in mylot anymore so we have to create our own amusement responses Good Luck Have a Great day

I hope so. I am fairly sure that I smiled a lot at my daughter, especially when receiving awards, medals or just doing something very well.
Your discussion made me think really. It i a lot better for kids emotional development if they see their parents smile a lot.
I still give my daughter a kiss goodnight when she is in bed, & she is 14 years.

I think that is something we all need to remember. We are always in such a hurry and I really don't want my kids to remember me as always being a grouch. We spend alot of time together at the campground and I hope when they get older they remember those times.

Yes ;)
Do I get to get away with a one word answer? I suppose not, as that is against policy, and I love you too much to leave it there anyway. Hey everybody - this is my mom and I love her to bits!!!! :)
Anyway, as to your question. I can't really say I remember specific smiles, but if there are enough would you remember them all? I do remember lots of laughter, hugs, playing board games, jumping on the trampoline, taking care of pets, riding bikes, doing cartwheels(even GardenGerty when we were at Wall park), and oodles of other things. I'd say you did a great job. You supported me in dancing, twirling, gymnastics, tball, softball, soccer, musicals, playing piano, cello, marimba, and guitar, pursuing a college career, getting married and probably everything else I've done. Are you perfect? Naw, I'd probably be seriously messed up and stressed out if you were ;) Oh, and I still think you are a beautiful woman, smile and all!

I'm so teary-eyed now, I haven't seen my daughter in three years. She lives in the UK. And just the weekend we came across a beautiful couple with a 3 year old daughter.

And I just smiled and walked on, and then my husband knew, it is that terrible feeling that comes over me from years gone by, that as a young mother I wanted time to speed up, and couldn't wait to see her at her first school-day, her first brazier, her first date..... Now that she is grown up and living her own live I will give all the money in the world to have it all back, at a super slow pace.

My daughter's face is all around me in the house with photographs, and scrapbooks, and every time I read article's or discussions like this one, I get myself smiling at her photo on my desk and you are right it makes you wander if they realize how much you love them!

But there is big excitement here as well. We are going to visit her over Christmas and I just pray to God that we stay healthy, and that nothing will hamper us from going.

Thank you GardenGerty for a little staring at my daughter's picture and a bit of daydreaming!

well yeah i have some moments where i could say we are enjoying each company especially now that theyr are all grownups..we enjoyed shopping together and the likes...even when they were still kids we did some activities together or even attended at school and they really appreciated it very much..

Such a good observing question, and to be frank this brings the encouraging and happiness to the childrens' heart when they see the mother smiling and happy at every step they take. But some mothers are rude with their children when the child has learnt something new and wants to show the mother, she says she is busy which takes away all the happiness of the child.

Well if you really love your kids that much , smiling at you kids will never be enough yea ... smiling is actually a natural reaction to show that you are friendly and attention yea ... if you did not smile to your kids enough then there might be some problem with your relationship with your family yea

Some school program my noughty and beutiful daugter take a part. Her part is one of fairy. She is look like the fairy truly.after the program over I went near her and kiss her and give smile and said Iam proud of you.

I am posting something my daughter wrote for an English assignment that her teacher shared with me.

"My mother is one of the greatest pastor's wives that I know of. When my Dad first started being a youth pastor, she was afraid that people wouldn't think she was a good pastor's wife, because she said she was still the same person that she'd always been.

She was wrong. Everyone who knows her-sees her as someone who loves to laugh and have fun. When she takes us to church camp, she is the first to have pranks pulled on her, because everyone wants to see how she retaliates. One year, one of the new girls put a real-looking rubber snake inside her sleeping bag. My mother screamed bloody murder. Then, she started laughing and wanted to know who was responsible. None of us would tell her who did it, so the next night, Mom Saran-Wrapped the toilet seats. We had a mess to clean up. But we all laughed, and we didn't try any pranks on Mom the rest of the camp week.

When she watches movies, she laughs when it is funny, but she also cries alot, when it's sad."

This is just a little bit of what she wrote for a paper entitled "A woman who has influenced my life: and what she taught me" her conclusion was "My mom (who is also my pastor's wife) taught me to laugh."

You tell me! Do I smile at my kids enough? I certainly think so!