ART OF SMILING

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17611, 16 January 1929, Page 5

ART OF SMILING

ROYAL EXAMPLE. VALUE OF HUMOUR. It is said that the sunny smile of the Duchess of York has helped to make her one of the most loved women in the world, and, seeing the part a smile or frown can play in our everyday life, it is not to be wondered at that the beloved Duchess has smiled her way Into countless hearts. Even little Princess Elizabeth has inherited that sunny disposition and inclination to be amused and made happy by even the smallest of trifles.

A sense of humour is such a saving grace that many a wise mother consciously sets about trying to encourage and develop it in her children’s personalities. But first the mother must learn how to smile herself, even when things go wrong, and this is not easy, but it can be done by determining to see the funny side of things. Many seeming tragedies have been averted and changed into comedies by the possession of a sense of humour and the ability “to laugh it off.” It is one of the best qualities we can possess and one of the richest heritages we can pass on to the children, who look to the mothers for help and guidance until they are able to think and act for themselves. Unconscious Imitators. The parents are the medium through which the concrete ideas of young children are formed. Their minds arc so plastic that they re-act unconsciously to any mood we may be in ourselves. If mother can laugh at mishaps, the habit of doing likewise soon becomes a part of the child’s character, and this “not 100 serious” outlook on life becomes a valuable asset.

Even young babies, who look on life with very serious wondering eyes, cannot resist responding to a smile. School grievances can often be minimised or dispersed altogether by treating the annoying -state of affairs as something in the nature of a joke. The story-telling hour can often be turned to good account in the developing of a sense of humour. By suggesting to their sub-conscious minds that a good many difficulties can be laughed at and treated lightly, they are armed with a smile for disappointments and setbacks that might otherwise sow the seeds of ultra-sensitive-ness.