Cups

Painting Together

And surviving...

Rhythm is a very important part of our daily lives. Every day of the week has a special activity that drives our day. Friday is painting day.

I have been working very hard on calming my inner crank since we started painting.

Today we ventured back into painting with a brush.

I took the advice of Rahima Baldwin Dancy (love her!) and started with one colour and one colour only.

(Fingers just had to make contact with the paints.)

We painted for a good long while, then we were done.

No spazzing, no crying, no cringing. Just fun.

I think the matching headbands may have helped. Or not...

Happy Friday to you all! Enjoy your weekend.

Painting with Children

I have a "bad mom" confession. I don't know what it is about painting, but I tend to lose my cool.

I'm by no means the super bestest mom on the planet, but I tend (try) to lean towards slightly mellow. Until the paints come out. Then I go completely coo-coo.

The mashing of paints into different paints, the soaking/bleeding/obliteration of said paints, the inability (or desire) to actually paint on the paper. Sadly, I have lost my cool more than once.

First I tried to paint with Izzie. That was a bad idea. While I was calmly creating she was creating havoc. Now she paints and I knit, or drink tea and try not to pay attention to the mess.

Where did this neat freak come from? I used to be a chaos cleaner/organizer. Where it landed, that's where it was meant to be. And now, not so much.

Yes, that is paint in her mouth. It's non-toxic.

Time to breathe. And time to let go.

First step, finger paints.

I know what you're thinking. Finger paints are so much messier. What you don't realize is that finger paints don't involve several tiny dried pots of paint, brushes and dipping water. Just paint and fingers.

It helps when you see the original super cleaner enjoying the mess of finger painting.

So I am grasping at my inner calm to help Izzie enjoy the fun of making a complete mess of things. And slowly letting go of the part of me that tries to be perfect at all times.

All a precursor for when we start with watercolour painting.

FORT!

We are in fort territory. Izzie received two play silks for her birthday and we started to make forts (and have been building them ever since) that night.

Here are W., Izzie's cousin, and Izzie's bum showing you how to peek-a-boo out from the fort.

That wall behind their fort is not properly insulated, so today I have been using all of my fort making skills in the living room. This was one of the duds.

Now we have a play silk/blanket hybrid in the same area. The entire morning was spent, constructing, playing and getting a little weepy when the fort would fall down. Anyone out there have any fort building tips?

(And after 4 hours of fighting with clothespins, I am now lusting after these. They look like they could hold anything to anything.)
Who knew so much fun could be had with square pieces of silk?

(Just before I post this, I want to say that the kitties are now fighting each other through the fort.)