There is one request that unites all women and girls no matter their political affiliation or socioeconomic status, and that’s telling them to smile when they’re just minding their business. Think of it like a fairly universal “don’t” when interacting with women, unless you’re a photographer hired to take their photo.
A mom on TikTok found herself reaping the consequences of telling her 9-year-old daughter to smile when she was rehearsing a performance for her school. To say her daughter was not amused would be an understatement. The mom, whose TikTok name is @Anniesgotabun, shared a video before and after her daughter’s performance.
The caption of the video read “mistakes were made” complete with the facepalm emoji and the hashtag #parentingfail. In the first part of the video you can clearly see her daughter going through the motions of the musical production looking unenthusiastic. The mom explains her error via text overlay, saying, “My daughter had her final rehearsal for the school musical yesterday.”
The video cuts to the mom with text that read, “Afterward, I regrettably said the one thing that no female *ever* wants to hear. ‘Try to smile more.’’’
The result was interesting to say the least and it certainly made the mom rethink her well-meaning advice. During the actual show, the little girl made sure her point was made by staring directly in her mother’s eyes the entire time … smiling.
You may be thinking, Well then the advice worked, didn’t it? Er, yes and no. Yes, because she smiled, but no if mom’s plan was to have her daughter maniacally smile like the Joker while staring deep into her soul the entire performance. Because that’s exactly what happened and the Internet cannot unsee it. The parents of the other children onstage are probably wondering whose child that was.
Check out the funny video below and for the love of everything you cherish, please remember this mom’s mistake should you ever get the urge to tell a woman or girl to smile.
This article originally appeared two years ago.
