Heart, Notes, Smile, Dinosaur

My children aren’t the best artists.   I’m not sure when children become skilled at holding a writing implement and transferring something onto paper or surface that is easily recognizable as an actual thing, but it hasn’t happened in my household yet.

I was never much for drawing.  I can do this elephant from behind thing that’s cute and curvy and pretty much my only drawing trick.   Other than that I’m lucky if I can get four legs on the dog my daughter has decided she wants me to draw on her paper for her.  

My children are interested in drawing things recently, though.   I don’t know if I should give them instructions (in which case I’d better start an online class to get some remedial skills myself.)  They draw in sort of loops and squiggles now that they can describe in either great detail or dismissively brief monosyllables but to an adult, it just looks like random, frenzied marks with a crayon.

My children are getting good at repeating something if you help them or give them an idea though.   Some time back my husband helped my son draw people via the stick figure method.   My son draws little stick figure-esque guys all the time now.   My daughter is good at tracing her hand and putting fingernails on the resulting handprint because Mimi showed her how.

My son recently came over to me with a drawing he was working on.   I asked him what he’d drawn and he said, “that’s Daddy and that’s Reese and that’s Mommy and that’s me.”  I asked if I could draw a little heart on my shirt (or the center-region of the blocked stick-figure he’d drawn,) because I love him.  He said sure.

Then he asked me if I could draw musical notes on his sister, because she sang all the time.  I did so and then he asked if I could draw a smiley face on Daddy’s shirt and I did that.   Then he thought and asked if I could draw a dinosaur on his shirt.   I drew a very tiny representation of a Brontosaurus and he was happy with that as well.

The next day he came home from school and he’d brought a drawing, which is somewhat uncommon for him.   I asked him what the drawing was of and he had re-drawn the entire family, including an attempt at the heart, notes, smile and dinosaur.

The Big Boy Update:  Pahmer Sighting!   That’s right folks, we now know what Pahmer looks like.   My son was eating his breakfast when I heard him exclaim, “hey, Pahmer looks like this.”   I went over to check it out and it turns out Pahmer looks just like Barney Rubble.   Thanks to the Flintstones Vitamins people for helping us figure this out.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter showed up downstairs a few nights ago for some reason in the middle of the night.  I’m not sure if she was cold or scared or lonely but I let her get in the bed.   We don’t encourage the children to sleep with us in general, but a frightened or lonely child needs to be comforted and we never mind that.   About five minutes later she said, “I’m going back to my bed.”  She got up, walked herself back up the stairs and went back to bed until morning.

Fitness Update:  I walked around the block for two miles today while listening to an audio book and catching up on email.   Nothing like getting three things accomplished at once.