US comedian Kevin Fredericks, who goes by the name Kev On Stage, is well known for his venerates which he shares with his more than 190K Twitter followers.
But for the first time, Fredericks was at a loss for words when he asked his son Joe why he doesn’t smile in pictures. The two were having an open and frank discussion when Fredericks brought up the fact.
“What is the deal?” asked a concerned Fredericks.
“I don’t like forcing myself to feel happy. If I’m happy then I’m happy,” responds his son.
I asked my son why he doesn’t smile in pictures. His answer was so good I won’t try to force him again. pic.twitter.com/46AGeVHcN6
He continued to say that forcing him to appear happy when taking photos just makes things worse, but when he’s in a good mood, then he’s fine with it.
Fredericks seemed to have a moment of clarity and said “that actually makes a lot of sense.”
It’s something that most kids can relate to. A lot of the time, parents are trying to create perfect family moments when out and about by taking the “perfect” photo for Instagram likes and bragging rights.
Children don’t worry about things like that. All they want is to let them be.
It often ends in tears for both children and parents, and the moment is ruined.
Most of the comments accompanying the post said just this. Some even brought up the fact that children are forced to hug complete strangers because it’s “good manners”.
This reminds me of the picture my daughter and I took about 25 yrs ago after church service. pic.twitter.com/HuG60YvD4u
— Amanda James (@2lovelivelaugh) September 7, 2020
I feel you young man, I actually at times grin when asked to smile on pictures. 😬 pic.twitter.com/dn56CrNIrQ
— Mathete Maeteletja 🇿🇦🇧🇼🇳🇦🇳🇬🇺🇬 (@Mathetem) September 7, 2020
This says a lot about us. We’ve been taught to pretend to be happy even if we’re not. We’re taught to hide our emotions for school, work, in front of family/friends. Smiling for a picture even when we’re not happy is nbd. For the newer generation, it doesn’t make sense to.
“We really shouldn’t force emotions on our children,” Fredericks said during the conversation, and ended with “Noted Joe.”