I have to admit to hitting a writing road block this week. Lack of time, sheer exhaustion, (possibly induced by the last few weeks of late night typing of posts!) and a need to put my feet up having braved (and completed) nine whole months’ of filing at the weekend.

Image by © Edvard March/Corbis

So this week I was in need of inspiration and I sought assistance. It came in the form of a question: “What Makes You Smile?” so this is what I’ve come up with. A list of all the things that make me smile. I once read somewhere that some wise person had undertaken some research and found out that while babies smile on average 400 times a day, a grown adult will only smile 14 times. Oh my goodness! No wonder we all feel miserable.

Apparently smiling can not only make us feel better in ourselves, it can make us more attractive to others, and help them to smile too. So why not take a look at my list of things that make me smile and let me know if any of them work for you and then leave your own list of what makes you smile in the comments box below.

Who knows, if we share one big list of all the things that make us smile, we might find one more reason to smile each day and all be a little happier for it… Come on! It’s worth a try isn’t it?!

So here’s my list of things that make me smile…hope it tweaks the corners of your mouth a little…

1. Hearing the word “Mummy” for the first time every morning (its power dwindles somewhat with overuse as the day wears on though…!)
2. Knowing I can count on Mayfair Dad (he works far too hard, but he’s always there for us both when we need him)
3. The sound of my son’s infectious giggling (can thankfully raise me from the worst attacks of grumpiness and sense of humour failure, unless he’s simultaneously being a prat, which instantly vetoes any sense of wellbeing!)
4. Waking up and knowing I don’t have to go to the office/toddler group that morning
5. A really big hug (Mayfair Dad’s have the biggest effect!)
6. The sight of Mayfair Dad bringing me a cup of tea in bed
7. A really good foot rub (MD is pretty good at these too!)
8. The sun, moon and stars – you know, shining, glowing and twinkling
9. Christmas – yes, more twinkling!
10. A hot cup of tea (with a rich tea biscuit or chocolate digestive)
11. Lazy summer afternoons with a good book and a cold drink
12. Butterflies – they make me think of lazy summer afternoons
13. My first sight of those early spring flowers (yes! summer is around the corner!)
14. Autumn leaves and conkers (it still makes me ridiculously happy to find a really shiny conker or just to walk through leaves making shushing noises as I go…)
15. Aeroplanes, old and new, particularly a beautiful old Spitfire, the Red Arrows and any commercial jet with me in a passenger seat (especially take off and landing)
16. Steam trains and beautiful old classic cars
17. Yorkshire, the Scottish Highlands and Paris
18. My mother’s home-grown and home stewed apples
19. A bowl of warm  porridge with cream and Demerara sugar
20. Pretty much any well cooked plate of food
21. Chocolate (70% and over only – sorry but Cadbury’s doesn’t have the same effect, Galaxy maybe…)
22. An ice cold Gordon’s & Tonic (aahh!!!)
23. The scent of tea roses or freesias (happy memories of my grandmother and mother in their gardens)
24. Rosemary, lavender and thyme (one sniff and I get an immediate feeling of wellbeing and ditto the above)
25. The first glimpse of the sea
26. The scent of a sea breeze
27. Most small fluffy cute things (human babies, puppies, kittens, chicks, ducklings, foals, calves, lambs… you get the picture!)
28. The sight of an old and dear friend after too long apart

And that’s it for now ‘cos I’m so tired I can’t think any more. So don’t forget to add your own via the comments box and leave with a smile 🙂

Mayfair Mum x

© Mayfair Mum, 2011

So we can all have one long list to remind ourselves of all the good reasons we have to smile, here are your suggestions as promised. Keep ’em coming:

From Sarah at This is me – Mum of 3:

1. Comments on my blog (I would add to this, likes and good ratings and getting a guest post published!)
2. All photos – old and new

From Beccah at Curly Mum:

1. Finding money in my purse that I didn’t know I had.
2. When I can find the time/motivation to bake, the smell of cakes as they come out the oven.
3. This weekend, my mum saying I had done well with breastfeeding this time around.
4. Today, somebody commenting on my blog to say I had inspired them to do some craft.