Posts Tagged ‘wife’
On these two days, my wife continues to enjoy the smiles I give her and returns them back.
My mother-in-law has been by to visit with my wife a lot more lately – almost every day. That is a great thing since otherwise my mother-in-law just sits home and doesn’t see or talk to anybody. For sure, this is a quite a nice change.
My middle son continues to smile back at the smiles.
I posted these two days together since I did not get to the computer yesterday 
This was perhaps the most un-smiley day of this 15-Day experiment! My wife was babysitting for a friend all day and I had to do a lot of errands she would have done, clean up around the house, mow all the lawn, and some gardening work. And the kids were mostly gone. So I was dog tired and my wife was tired as well when she got home. Frankly, I was wondering if we would get any smiling in at all! But then, at about 10:15PM I got in some smiles at my wife, and she returned a bunch back!
It was kind of nice to know that smiling can work on even the days where two tired spouses are in an un-smiley mood!
On this day I was somewhat busy around the house, but managed to get some grins in at my wife and kids. As usual, my wife was very receptive to getting a smile, giving one back. My second son also was again very responsive to smiles, giving one back nearly every time.
I stopped by my inlaws again and worked on a garden plot that we share, weeding and mulching. I got in a few smiles at my mother-in-law and she once again seemed to appreciate them greatly. This whole smiling experiment seems to have affected her in a very good way, even though I am only one person she sees on occasion. And it has taught me a lot about myself as well.
On this day, I took a trip into town to take my youngest son in for gymnastics while I stopped at a few stores. Once again, I found the store clerks to be very responsive to smiles. And once again, the older lady at the Walmart I stopped at seemed to absolutely love being greeted by name, with a smile. So if you want to make some store clerks day, try this!
My wife was very tired when she got home and not too responsive to much of anything. She was up most of the night with my youngest daughter and then had to take her in for a minor surgery very early. The only thing she wanted to do was get to bed and catch up on her sleep! Moral of the story: Don’t expect dog-tired people to be too cheerful. I know I wouldn’t be too cheerful if I were that tired.
I was sort of busy yesterday and did not have a chance to post. So I will post to report on both Day 5 and Day 6.
Day 5 featured some challenges. My wife all of a sudden started making all kinds of requests: Paint the walls, fix the door, move this, build that, do this, do that. It gets a little overwhelming (for me) but I kept the smile and by later in the day all was happiness and bliss.
Day 6 was a nice day in that I was able to spend some great time with most of my kids. Two middle boys helped me with some yard work, then 3 of my kids and myself played a board game and then we all went swimming. Don’t know if smiling had too much to do with this, but I am sure it didn’t hurt. I am still smiling at my oldest son, and at least he is acknowledging me now, although I am not getting a smile back.
My wife took our youngest into the doctor, and while in town stopped at the Menard’s home store and picked up some brochures on kitchen counter tops. Of course you can imagine where this is leading to? A complete kitchen remodel! Not that I am against the remodel, but right now is not the best time in light of the fact that other things are planned this summer. But I was able to explain all that would be involved and we were able to agree on holding off. A smile or two did not hurt here either!
To my wife’s delight, I shaved my beard this day.
Well I got out of the house this day. Went to church and then a church event. Smiles went a long way at church, as they usually do. And even though my wife showed up late (I bring the kids to Sunday School and my wife drives separate) I returned her smile with a smile rather than a grimace as she waltzed in while service was already going. At the event I found myself spending most of my time with my wife at the event. What a concept huh? Spending time with your spouse! It made me realize that spouses often “do their own thing” more than they should. And I also realized that without that first smile at church, I may have not ended up spending the time with my wife later.
I dropped over at the inlaw’s house. Gave my mother-in-law a smile and greeting. She really seems to like me now. And I have the Original 30-day Smiling Experiment to thank for that.
Smiling at the kids proved to be a good thing once again this day.
Yesterday went very well. My wife was very happy with my happy demeanor. And she was also very happy that I put up our (her) new ceiling fan, which involved over 3 hours since the instructions contained some errors! So I think she would have been happy even without the smiles.
Otherwise, I did some gardening. The kids were mostly gone at their friends or out with my wife so I did not see much of them. So it was just me and the garden, and the fan, and my happy wife.
Yesterday (actually the evening before), I started a new smiling experiment. I have summer break now and am spending a lot more time around family. So this will be mostly an experiment around my wife and kids. Mostly my wife as my kids are busy doing their own thing much of the time.
My wife immediately responded in a very positive manner. Like night and day compared to the few days previous. And frankly, with this new experiment, I have been trying to be a bit more considerate as well. But, as I mentioned before, it is difficult to brew up a disagreement with someone if you are smiling at them and they are smiling back.
On this first day I made a quick stop at our local grocery store. I gave the lady that has known me for near 15 years a big smile and greeting by name. I think she was a bit shocked since she seems to regard me as a perfect stranger. It was a nice way to kick off this new smiling campaign.
My youngest daughter, just turned 8, is now a “Daddy’s girl”. She has been since the end of the Original 30-Day Smiling Experiment. She is so responsive to a smile. And I am happy to say that I never stopped smiling at her even at the conclusion of that experiment. So some of it “stuck”.
At any rate, I am liking this already. Stay tuned!
Well, this was the last day of this experiment, and it sure started out in a not-so-smiley way! My morning cup of coffee tasted like soap, which then gave me an upset stomach. This was followed up by my wife’s requests to fix the dishwasher. And meanwhile, I had a pile of work to do! So no, I was not smiling at the start of the day! But, after running some de-limer through the machine (which only took a few minutes to set up) and getting the dishwasher situation straightened out, things got a bit better!
This was a smiling-at-family day. The results were consistent with past results. In summary – It Works! All-around moods are better in the household. I wish I had video of before and after this experiment because I am certain that this household is a happier place now!
I paid a visit to my father-in-law and mother-in-law. Again, smiles to my mother-in-law communicated something to her that words somehow can not do.
Also, smiled at my oldest teen, but it seemed difficult to get much of any reaction from him this day.
Perhaps the most important thing I learned from this experiment is that:
People that seem to smile the least will benefit the most from your smile.
Somehow, some way, I must continue this experiment indefinitely. I plan to post periodic updates from time to time.
