Things I love about peds: "The Grin"

This may be a new short series I work on over the next few years: things I love about peds. I decided to start with a very basic one.

Somewhere along the road of adolescence, we become conscious of "the grin". By adulthood, it's rare to see someone break out into a true "I just won a million dollars" grin (unless they did, indeed win a million dollars. Or occasionally when you deliver a baby. Or perhaps if you tell someone their cancer is cured.) But generally, we lose the ability to just look like a complete fool and grin like our cheeks are going to split.

Kids don't worry about what everyone else thinks. You don't have to rock their world to get "the grin". In fact, 9 out of 10 times all you have to do is smile at them (which turns me immediately into above mentioned fool looking like my cheeks are going to split). Or play with them. Or ask about football, school, friends. Or hand them a dinosaur reflex hammer (has totally come in handy already).

That absolutely pure, simple joy is one of the things I've fallen in love with about peds already. And sometimes if you're REALLY lucky - you'll get "the belly laugh". Stay tuned for that episode at a later date ;)