Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Little Man's Art


I swear I only walked out of the room for a moment.

And I must confess, I wasn't terribly upset. He's being creative. Truly creative. The kind of creative that says, "Hey, I'm bored with the coloring book, I wonder how this might look on my legs, arms, belly, face, mouth and the soles of my feet? Hmmm...I wonder: 1) if I run around the house with marker on the bottom of my feet, exactly how many steps can I take before the ink stops being ground into Mom's carpet? and 2) Will this non-Crayola marker with questionable toxicity wash off my skin?*

This type of artistic and scientific curiosity drives all great inventions and Grumperina's wacky insightful experiments. So why not let him explore? I suppose there is a limit. For instance, he's not allowed to draw on the walls, his Moms, furniture or the rugs (although accidents do happen). But his body? I don't see anything wrong with that. Or should I? Will he grow up to look like this guy? There are limits, you know.

*Answers from Mom: 1) 3 steps. Which, if multiplied by 2 feet = not a terrible clean-up job. 2) Yep. Easily.

4 comments:

kc said...

Ah, the creativity of youth! My little one has taught me how much fun it is to paint (and stamp, marker, etc.) on ourselves and each other. So far, it's all washed off easily (well, except for that stamp ink that time, but it faded in about 3 days). Our only "tragedy" was the black crayon all over the master bedroom walls. After the heart palpitations subsided, we praised her for being "creative", explained the need to keep crayons on paper, and finally got that new paint job in the bedroom.

Little man is adorable! :}

christine said...

that is so cute! (stained carpet maybe not, but perhaps worth the triumphant burst of creative coloring...)

i think your son is getting a wonderful head-start on a non-conformist lifestyle. :)

Katie said...

Might want to invest in some washable markers. My daughter likes to bite the tips off markers, so close supervision is required.

Fun thing to do if child is in day care or has a babysitter and is still in diapers: apply a temporary tattoo below belly button so it is obscured by diaper. Caregivers get interesting surprise at next diaper change!

alison said...

Too funny!