It started like this: about 11 years ago, I got a phone call from my first grade son Ben’s school recommending that he join a special “social skills” group during lunch on Fridays.

“That sounds good to me!” I said. And the rest is history.

What I’ve neglected to draw here is that my reaction to this proclamation was exactly the same as all other the six-year old boys in the class. Six-year olds requiring extra help with social skills, that is.

Ben, of course, was just telling it like it is.

Anyway, ever since I started supporting Brain, Child Magazine and its excellent blog Brain, Mother with drawings, I’ve been spending more time thinking about how to get emotional expressions just right, which of course is challenging when one has developed a style completely devoid of lips, noses, chins and necks.

This chart below shows how many different expressions I can come up with for myself using just seven simple variations for eyes, and 10 different mouths.

The only problem is, there’s no feeling for the feeling I’m feeling! (And what feeling is that?)

Why, CALM, of course!