What's on His Mind-- and Mine
I have a love-hate relationship with crafts. There is hardly anything, besides reading, I’d rather Julia and Brighton do, but when I think of “doing crafts” with my children, my anxiety level rises, I get hungry for sugar, and I think hard about turning on the TV. For one, I don’t like the mess. Two, I have no direction to give them on being “crafty”. Three, I don’t have all the latest and greatest from the local Hobby Lobby. But the one thing that causes me to jut my arms in front of me--palms out-- besides the sight of glue sticks, scissors, popscicle sticks, colored paper and cotton balls is where in tarnation do I put the creation once it has been stuck together by enough Scotch tape to secure the Federal Reserve? Where do I keep the puppets made of sticks from the yard, felt and Scotch tape? Or the painted scraps of wood? Or the balls made from pipe cleaners, wads of paper and more Scotch tape? And finally, where do you keep 27 pieces of paper taped together to resemble Rangers stadium? It’s hard for me to talk about the paper-- a forest, I tell you. And Brighton? He’s a paper snob. If it has so much as a dot on it, he will not use it. Creases and bumped corners bother him too. You can forget about having him draw on the back of any of it. When I have suggested that we mail some of his 237 drawings of Rangers Stadium to grandparents or cousins, he says, "You mean I'll never see it again? I may forget what it looks like. Let's just keep it so I can show my boy when I grow up." Direct quote. So, now that I am keeping some for my grandson, my trash can won't be quite as full.
Okay, I know this isn't art, but it is his favorite toy. He plays endless games of these guys running the bases all according to the game going on in his head. The other day, he figured out something was missing.
Okay, so my favorite thing and my least favorite thing was the popcorn you can see in the little bowls in the background. Julia took apart a "popcorn maker" so she could give out the minuscule pieces of popcorn to the Polly Pockets and Puppy in my Pocket animals.
At least I didn't have to store this "creation" of his imagination.
Whatever is on the boy's mind, not only comes out of his mouth, but also comes out of his hands. Here are a few of his "thoughts".
My kitchen table..........a race track
My island....... a basketball court
Just one of the 237 drawings....this could be his most detailed one.
Okay, I know this isn't art, but it is his favorite toy. He plays endless games of these guys running the bases all according to the game going on in his head. The other day, he figured out something was missing.
Spectators!
His sister came in real handy here.
Okay, so my favorite thing and my least favorite thing was the popcorn you can see in the little bowls in the background. Julia took apart a "popcorn maker" so she could give out the minuscule pieces of popcorn to the Polly Pockets and Puppy in my Pocket animals.
At least I didn't have to store this "creation" of his imagination.
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But then as I scrolled through the pictures, I thought, "The boy's got talent!"
And a good imagination, too. :)
The one thing that saves me in this arena of "what do I do with all this paper stuff they create?" is my digital camera. Snap a photo, store it away on the computer, and in the odd chance they ever ask about it, it's still there. Not completely gone. Still where they can see it. Even when they're 103.
fun!!!