Art's Smart

We all have this list--one of things we will never do when we're a mother. You will never yell at your kids, co-sleep, or let your kids eat anything with high fructose corn syrup, insert your own "I will never _____" here (c'mon you know you've got "The List"!)... and if you've been a mother long enough (or in my case to enough children) you know that "never say never" was a phrase written for motherhood and that it's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy that if you say you won't, you will.

One things left of my "Never List"--

PAINTING.

It's not that I have anything against painting, per se. But the idea of my two boys and their tendency to wreak havoc had me shaking in fear of the cleanup. I console my bad mother guilt feelings with the fact that Mason paints plenty at preschool, and Cole will have the chance when he started preschool in the coming months.

So we crayon. We marker. We colored pencil. But we do.not.paint.

Well, ladies and gents, we've been stuck home with cooties for a whopping FIVE days now. THREE CHILDREN. ONE MOTHER. FIVE DAYS. Without so much as a trip to the SuperTarget.

I have used up alllll of my tricks, and believe you me, I have a lot of tricks. So out came the easel that is generally reserved only for chalk drawings. And out came my emergency stash of paints and brushes.

As you can see, they had fun. As you can also see (or read, since I'm still alive to write this) we all survived. It turned out to be a lovely little activity, and in the fresh, 75 degree Florida day, no less. Cole was alarmingly concerned about his dirty hands, though.

A side effect of preschool--Mason always has to have his name on his paper.

A side effect of being a little brother--Cole always has to have what Mason has.

Funny things happen when little boys have runny noses and decide to wipe their snot with paint sullied hands.

Things I Learned

1. A four year old can paint a paper in exactly half the time of a two year old.

2. Yellow and blue DO NOT make green in Crayola paint world--they make an ugly looking brown color.

3. Washable paint REALLY IS washable! I was amazed at how easily their hands cleaned up.

4. It did make a freakin' mess.

5. But I will do it again.

Never say never, people. Never say never.