A frozen smile induced a spontaneous one

What a nice surprise to discover these scare crows on our evening walk on the school grounds down the street.

Their expressions are so sweet and reminded me to pass a smile on. Smiles are free and they cost nothing.


When you give them away it makes others happy. Even if a smile is not returned, you never know why...or how yours affected someone else's day.

Liam and I spent the morning at Suson Park. He is a little monkey see-monkey do. He ran to the big kids' climbing wall. He climbed this high before I reached him, and he slipped and banged his knee. But that did not stop him.


He took off to see the horses in the pasture eating hay. He wanted to see the pig more than anything, because he has a best stuffed buddy Arnold the pig.



"Want to see the pig? Hey, there's the pig!"

He saw the flock of geese which are used to people. He wandered this close, and as they started waddling off, he tried to stop them. See those little hands "talking?"









Because the temperature reached 91 degrees on October 17th, breaking all records, we were hot and sweaty and worn out.

After a nap, I filled a pan with warm water, bubble bath, and water balloons. He has been terrified of balloons since balloons popped at his birthday party. One was hanging above Bill's head, so he has blamed him ever since. "Papa Bill pop my balloons!" We couldn't convince him that Papa did not deliberately pop his balloon. The heat did.

Every time I mentioned balloons he would squeal, NOOOO!

But leave it to his friend.

 I believe adults should help children gently face their fears, not avoid them. So I have been finding ways for Liam to become more comfortable with balloons. He watched a video of someone popping water balloons, and thought he'd like to try it. So, we stopped at the Dollar Store and bought a package of balloons. He asked a grandpa to help him open the bag. He refused with a hearty laugh.

We talked about how air is the only thing in balloons and they make a loud sound that can't hurt you. The noise is scary. By the time we arrived at home he wanted no part of his balloons. In the end, as I inflated one he screamed, "No! I scared."

I filled half a dozen with water. He did remove a few from a container, and he laid them on the lawn, but he would not toss them on the driveway. He feared they would make a popping sound (his only frame of reference).

Then his little eight year old buddy next door came over. The moment I pull into our drive way on Mondays when I babysit, he starts calling, "Ron, oh Ron where are you?" He loves him. Ron happened to be off school on Monday.

When Ron held a balloon and encouraged Liam to hold one, of course he did. When Ron showed him how to yo-yo them, of course he did. When Ron showed him how to toss them on the concrete and pop them, well, you know he did.

I think I have started something with balloons. I drive him to a commuter lot to meet his mom at 5:00 p.m. Sometimes we have to wait a few minutes.  I inflated balloons and released them in the car. He giggled and belly laughed as they zig-zagged all over the interior of the car. He shouted, "Do it again, Nana! The red balloon. The green. The yellow one. Now the orange."

Well, guess what I did for fifteen minutes, until I was dizzy? No comments about how full of hot air or dizzy I am.

I hope something in this post made you smile, and I hope you pass a smile on.