I love the smell of markers in the morning. There is nothing better than starting my day with the smell of black, blue, purple, red, green and pink marker filling my nostrils. Even better is the pattern the wet markers make on my forehead.
You see, one of the many artists in the house loves her daddy so much she has to make a "beautiful picture" for him every day. Often times I am the lucky recipient of more than one. Sometimes the dear girl is so excited she can't wait to show me.
On the odd occasion that I am granted a few minutes extra sleep she will wake me by sticking the picture on my face and shaking me, thus the smell of markers in the morning. What is a little headache in exchange for a smile that could power the sun. Ok, the few times that she has managed to spread the markers onto the comforter are a bit less thrilling, but it is hard to be angry when she is so happy.
As I mentioned earlier she is not the only artist in the house. She has an older brother who really enjoys art projects too. Between those they do at home and those generated by school we're running into a small issue regarding what to do with them.
There simply isn't space to hang all of the pictures. There is not enough room to place the various other items on shelves. Over time we have acquired a number of clear plastic bins in which we have stored many of the better projects, but that has its own issues as well. These kids are still young. At the current rate in less than five years I'll have more than 2,983,092,092 art projects to consider what do with.
Some of you are probably wondering why we don't surreptitiously dispose of some these items. The answer is that when possible we do, but these kids have memories that would shame an elephant. It is not unusual for them to ask what happened to such and such and so and so. I don't like lying to them, but I don't really want to say that I didn't think that beautiful picture was beautiful enough to save.
I sometimes consider carrying vast amounts of candy in my pocket for moments like that. "What did you say about a picture? Hmm...eat this and let me try and remember."
Did I ever mention that I used to consider becoming a kid's dentist. After each visit I was going to give them a toy filled with sugar. And for the older kids I'd provide skateboards and roller blades with specific instructions to ride down a hill without pads.
Stop scowling, I am allowed to make a living. And you, with the funny looking Rav4, you may think that you're environmentally conscious but your gas money still supports the terrorists who want to kill us. That ought to shut you up for a moment.
Sorry, didn't mean to get feisty but I just got hit in the head by the beautiful pencil holder. And now if you'll excuse me I am off to find an ice pack for my head.
7 comments:
Great post. Except for the typo:
you're gas money
Then again, maybe you did mean to call that Environmentally Annoying Human Bean gas money.
Giving art projects as presents and thank you notes to relatives is a wonderful way to get rid of them. You can also send relatives the lovely pictures and paintings just to let them know the kids are thinking of them.
You can also let them keep their favorites and then at the end of the month take a picture of the wall they're stuck on and throw them out to start again.
Of course, b-day cards and love notes must always be saved.
Portfolios, man, portfolios. Post the most recent and then stuff them in the box.
The, six months later -- recycle
Gifts for the relatives. Lots of 'em. And if they retaliate by curtailing their visits, send them by mail. Or in big UPS packages.
Leora,
Got it. Thanks.
CR,
Good idea.
Fee,
Portfolios- I like it.
TRH,
Anyone who gives my kids gifts that make noise automatically receives a ton of homemade thank you notes and painted rock paper weights.
Scan 'em into the computer. They'll take a lot less space there.
I have no idea how any kid would react to that approach, given that we didn't even own a computer, much less a scanner, until our now-25-year-old was about 6 years old. Home computers were relatively rare, back in those dinosaur days, and we got one only because my husband needed it for business.
Finally there is a way to save all that kid art and do away with the "Stuff". Artimusart.com is a company that takes all the art, not just a piece or two and turns it all into a custom hard cover book and sends the images to an on-line web gallery so your kids can see their art. Send one piece of art or the entire gallery to grandma. The custom book is big enough to hold up to 85 artworks so now you have the answer on what to do with it all! ARTIMUSART.COM
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