I don't like the way I
smile. When I was
young my
mother would always point out when my
teeth were
grungy and needed
brushing. I didn't like brushing. Solution? I simply
learned to smile without showing my teeth, which isn't much of a smile at all.
Now
I brush my teeth daily, but I still tend to keep my
lips closed when I smile. It looks
fake to most people (try it - look in a mirror and
smile both ways). When I
grin (from a really good
joke, good
laughing, etc, that looks
good. Now that I have a
kid (he's 9 months now) I found that a
regular smile won't make him
smile back, I have to
make my whole face light up, which may have been what's wrong with my smile in the first place. But when I do he gets a
huge grin and wiggles his little body, sometimes throwing a giggle into the mix (if he wiggles too much
he flops over and bonks his head - but it doesn't bother him as much as when he's not
smiling and
bonks his
head). Everyone needs that kind of response from a baby at some time in their life (trust me -
it's more than just cute, it's somehow
satisfying or
reassuring)...
My
younger brother practised his smile in front of a
mirror.
I always thought it was weird, but maybe
it's my only hope (apart from practising in front of my
rug rat...)