6. Indulge in a secret midnight snack together. “I let my daughter have a midnight snack in bed,” says Yuki Hayashi, mother of three-year-old Esmé. “I let her come with me to the kitchen to decide what it will be. She loves that.”
7. Make your child the most important person in the room. “Anil is usually happiest when he has the undivided attention of both parents,” says Pushpa Poisson, mother of three-year-old Anil. “He likes to be the centre of attention.”
8. Run around, play games and be silly! Paula Aquilina-Shin, mother of two-year-old Abby says that her daughter has discovered that being scared can be exhilarating and fun. “Chasing her around the house, hiding around a corner and jumping out with a gentle "boo!" is sure to get a smile -- and a squeal -- out of her,” she says.
9. Be a constant presence in your child's day, whenever possible. Betty Winge, mother of four-year-old Anna, says her favourite way to make her daughter smile is by “being right there when she first wakes up in the morning -- face to face -- followed by lots of little smooches.”
10. Do something (anything!) together as a family. Mother of two, Catherine Wood says that her five-year-old son Noah loves “the family dance”, which includes Catherine and her husband, Noah and his nine-month-old brother, Matthew. “The five minutes spent so close together makes us all feel great and leaves us grinning ear to ear,” she says.
Making a child happy may seem like a simple proposition. Although a big bowl of ice cream is enough to make most kids giddy with glee, the stuff of true happiness, the kind that will last your child a lifetime, comes from the quality of your interaction with them. A child who knows he's loved is a happy child.
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