Another Reason to Smile Today

It’s Best Friends Day!

 
Did you know today, June 8, is National Best Friends Day? Here at A Child’s Best Smile, we understand the importance of friendship for everyone, especially children. With the recent pandemic, stay-at-home orders and social distancing causing isolation and separation, friendships are more important than ever. Here are four benefits to celebrating this National Best Friends Day. 

1. Mirror Neurons
   Mirror neurons are essential for childhood development. They help children learn, develop, and connect to others. Mirror neurons allow people to authentically imitate the body language of others, their facial expressions, and their emotions, fostering empathy. Maintaining peace and empathetic calm when someone you care about is upset can help to settle them. The shared experience produces closeness, which is critical for social connection.
2. Quality Relationship
   When it comes to relationships, quality vastly outweighs quantity. In other words, it does not matter how many friends your kiddo has, but how deep the friendships are is where it counts. Studies have shown that quality relationships result in people living longer, being happier and reaching a higher quality of life than those without meaningful relationships.
3. Confidence
   Best friends know almost everything there is to know about one another. People share things with a best friend that they may choose to withhold from others. With safety and trust as the foundation, close friends feel free to be who they really are without fear of judgment or reprisal from the other. This does not mean that best friends don’t hold one another accountable. Rather, it means that feedback comes from a place of care and concern instead of judgment. For this reason, this type of friendship solidifies self-confidence and esteem.
4. Mental Health
   People who do not have any deep relationships experience depression and other mental health issues – especially kids – more often than those with close, meaningful friendships. Mental health issues increased due to the pandemic – on a record-breaking level amongst children – which highlights the importance and necessity of a best friend. Therefore, National Best Friends Day is the perfect opportunity to thank your best friend and encourage your child to thank their best friend, for always being there for good conversation, support, lots of laughter and for contributing in a positive way to your and your kids’ mental health. Because of the mirror neurons mentioned in the first point, beneficial contributions go both ways as each friend positively shapes the other.

Start With a Smile
A smile goes a long way. This National Best Friends Day, give your bestie a smile to brighten their day. In addition, find an opportunity to get to know someone better by approaching them with a smile, starting a conversation, giving them a compliment or offering some encouragement. If your kiddo needs any help with their smile, come see us and we will greet you and your kiddo with a big smile and some positive mirroring!