January 27, 2013: Working on the Smile

Bad smile issues started in kindergarten

So smiling for pictures isn't my forte...I get it. I was reminded of this by Garrett and Mom this weekend. As the two of them gave me tips on how to mirror my nature smile (which they say is nice) when posing for a picture (which I know is bad), based on their responding laughs; my attempts were less than stellar. Garrett was a little less specific with his advice of "just smile like you always do" as opposed to mom's "I heard the movie stars put their tongue against the back of their teeth."

When I tried the tongue behind my teeth trick and asked for their thoughts, Mom roared with laughter. And Garrett said, "you look like you're putting your tongue behind your teeth." So much for that strategy.

Sometimes I just plain over think things. Garrett can vouch for this as he has explained to me numerous times the proper squat position in skiing and I still don't have it perfected. My trainer at the gym marvels at my dead lifts, but when he adds in an extra movement to a clean lift, I flounder. "You're over thinking it," he tells me.

That's what I do when I smile for a picture. I over think it. I think about smiling normal and then I think about it some more and then I try really hard to smile normal. But it never looks normal when I look at the picture. Usually if we take about three, one might look half way normal.

My kids give me such a hard time for smiling all the time. You would think I could do it innately; camera or no camera. Their favorite line to friends is "Mom smiles all the time...watch her!". Ben swears I smiled all the way through a funeral once. Untrue, but I will let him hold on to that.

Garrett says to just think about something that makes me smile and don't think about the smile itself. Hmmmm...just a happy thought and not really thinking about the exercise of smiling? Sounds logical. I'll give it a shot...has to be easier than pushing my tongue against my teeth.