March 2021 79 Months. #TBCSmiles

I don't know how it was for you, but this last month has felt like a hard one to me. The last of Winter meant the cold, wind and freezing rain was no fun, and we didn't get the quantity of snow that makes for much play.

School from home, while trying to work and run a house, means late nights and tens of thousands of unread emails for me. We had got into a routine of going out for more walks, but really my boys needed younger company.

When it's seeming like the mud is getting thicker and thicker, and you can barely go on, voila.... just like that they're back at school and already a week in. We had the usual lost shoe and 'dead sandwich in bag' discovery this morning, someone panicking about a P.E.kit, then add in bartering about who gets the PlayStation at 4pm, and it feels very much like school from home never happened. Back to a normality. 

The world hasn't stopped turning. The Spring sun is OUT and it sounds like hundreds of birds have chosen my garden to woo suitors and shout about Spring. All at once, the gloom is beginning to lift....

It's been a hard stretch - whether you have children or not. At least they give us someone to talk to, even if the conversation isn't what you'd usually pick. Either way it hasn't been easy. We've come a long way, and we're tired, but far from beaten. We can all get through this last bit - and if the next few weeks have a backdrop of sunshine and birdsong, even better...

You guys have still made smiles, although I can tell from all of the comments that everyone has been feeling exhausted. Every smile is a win, especially those that were harder to catch. ANYONE is more than welcome to join in over on Instagram - just tag any smile. From a coy upturned lip through to a full on belly laugh. Blurry or badly cropped, or insta-perfect. It doesn't matter. The smile is the important bit. 

Here are just 9 of the biggest smiles shared last month...  

These smiles were shared by the following instagrammers (I had help choosing from my 12 year old, who in fact chose 2 from the same person this month - but I'd already done the collage before I noticed):

Mymummyspennies / HappyMummyBlogs / Suburbanmum
Oddhogg / ReadyFreddieGo / Hollybobbs
Over40andaMumtoOne / HappyMummyBlogs / ClaireyHarpo

We also made some smiles, although I didn't get my camera out much, as has been the case the past year. You really do forget when your children get older, so I'm glad I have TBCSmiles to remind me... And I must try and keep my eyes open when I'm laughing in future - you can tell I'm not used to being in front of the camera... 

You've come a long way, and you've done it still smiling. You rocked this.