I always envisioned doing such crafts with my kids. And then I had a boy and he would not sit still for .2 seconds and any talk from me about paints, colors, or glue was ignored. I only had one child then and I thought sitting around painting and taping sounded like great fun, and an excellent way to pass the time--an alternate to exploring every blade of grass and pinecone--which is what Garrett wanted to do all the livelong day. And then Miss Lilah came along...she loves crafts, but her joy for eating the materials outweighs her love of production and I usually run out of steam after I have to dig crayon wax out of her teeth.
Now I'm too busy trying to keep everyone alive and fed and stuff like that. And when I wasn't looking....just when I least suspected it, as Garrett says.....I have a little craftsman on my hands. It happened overnight--one morning about 2 months ago, he woke up and wanted to draw--and it hasn't stopped since. It was awesome. For about a week. And then I started to get increasingly aggitated about the crafting supplies and post-production stuff always laying about. I know, terrible. I'm Type A like that....I hate things lying around. I justify it by saying that if I wasn't
Anyway, Garrett creates, like 10, "things" at home every day...pictures, models, letters, paintings. And he also comes home with at least 4 from school 4 days a week. Needless to say, I've had to start "thinning out" the production. Proud momma I am, but seriously....how many of these can you keep?
Well, of course, the little rascal is on to me. "Where is that teepee I drew for Daddy? I left it right here", he'd say. I started by playing dumb, shrugging my shoulders and looking the other way. But, then he found something in the trash. Busted. "Why did you throw my letter to Jonathan away?" he said. I did what anyone would do, lied like a dog and said it was an accident.
I'll be darned if he hasn't started checking the trash when he can't find something. So, if you live in my neighborhood and see me sneaking my trash into yours, you know what's up.
2 comments:
i can attest to the freak outs over art in our house as well.
Not that you asked for suggestions, but this is what we do... We pick one thing from school a week to keep in a vertical accordion file i have for each girl. Then after that, everything else gets the trusty two day rule. This applies for all sticks found in the yard, fast food toys, art work etc... It can been seen as harsh however, it motivates them to give the art to the appropriate person in a timely manner, or it goes into the recyclables. They also have space on the own wall in their own room to which they can display and rotate art as the space is needed.
Im with you, its not a control thing, its a space and clutter thing. Those papers add up beyond quick and can make any person, sane or not, crazy.
uggg! I hear you on the crazy art and wondering where it goes to...I randomly throw it into the recycle bin (which is too deep for my littlest creator to look into!) and thankfully (at times) she has a pretty short memory and is easily distracted...which might become a problem later in life ;)
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