Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Mom!

For the past few days I have been giving Ellie a really hard time because she keeps giving me fake smiles. I have been trying to figure out what her problem is and why she seems so sad. Nothing I did would bring a true smile to her face. I was going to sit down and have a talk with her yesterday, to see if I could get to the bottom of it. When bedtime came I decided to just let her go to bed and I would see how she was today. This morning she still wasn't really smiling but it was the rush of the morning so I didn't address it. Fast forward to this afternoon....I am working on homework with her and we are going over her spelling test. I realize she is barely moving her mouth. I look a little closer and I feel her lips, and all of the sudden it dawns on me what the problem is! Her poor little lips are so very chapped. She is trying her hardest to not move them so they won't crack and bleed! Now why she didn't say this, when I kept asking her why she wasn't smiling, I have no idea. I guess I wasn't asking the right question. Poor kid. I have now slathered them with chapstick.

Poor sad mouth! Hopefully in a few days they will feel much better!