Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Sometimes, you just Get It

I think occasionally I need to step outside the boundaries of what I consider art.
And I consider art...quite often in fact [insert cymbal crash here]

Some days, a bottle of Elmers glue, a stack of magazines, some construction paper and some random crafties can still make me giddy.
Pulled the plug Monday and the kids got crafty all. day. long. The sad traces of dried glue puddles, construction paper scraps and googly sticker eyes still litter the dining room table and floor. Does anyone actually eat at the dining room table anymore? Ours is more a multi-purpose desk/craft station/ironing board/folding table these days. Occassionally we have spaghetti there.

So we're mid-color mixing project (divide your paper into land/water/air/mountains. Using primary colors, mix away. Kids were enthralled) and Baz looks up at me in wonder and says: "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhh... i get it"
"What, buddy?" Me: distracted. trying to get red paint out of sophi's eyebrow "What do you get?"
"How God did it" In that matter-of-fact voice that only kids have perfected; making me feel like a total idiot.
"You know... It"
Deep breath. searching for patience as sophie proceeds to cover her right cheek in blue... "What's It, bud? I don't follow"
"The art, Mom"
Me: Blank Stare. We are obviously operating on different wavelengths today.
In his enlightened state of being, Sebastian holds up his picture. It's effing gorgeous. swirled up sunset, deep blue mountains, yellow-green grass, sun in super-nova. I want to lay down in this picture and die with a half-smile on my face. How did my four-year-old create this? And how quickly can I get it framed and hang it up on my wall? It's not little-kid art. Well, maybe it is, but it's the kind of little kid art that freezes your breath in your chest and makes your heart squeeze out that little tattoo that feels like too much caffeine...

"ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." i say, softly. "I get it too, Baz. I get it too."

The entire exchange took less than a minute. It made my whole weekend worthwhile.



Tuesday, January 12, 2010

BlogSorting: A Re-post Triptych

BlogSorting: A Re-post Triptych because I thought they all sort of fit together nicely


I have become a relatively small country with no natural borders...

At some point in the night I have been joined by "I had a bad dream" and "My room is too quiet". Perfectly normal sized three- and four-year-olds, once ensconced safely in mom's bed, unfurl to gargantuan, circus-freak-worthy proportions. I have two knees magnetized to my ribcage. I have an arm flung Stretch-Armstrong style across my hips. Somehow one of them has ended up upside down & I have a toddler size-10 lodged somewhere at the base of my skull.

I've considered bringing a fork to bed for defense.

It is impossible to sleep.

And so I lay there, listening to the wall clock ticking softly, the metal hands shushing across the metal face. I hear small snuffly breathing from the interlopers and louder snores from the one still crib-bound downstairs. And I smile despite myself.

It would be easy to resent my lack of space, of privacy, but I keep relearning how easy it is to lose great chunks of your life due to lack of attention. And I desperately want to remember this. When my family all fits into one small bed. When my heart can be full even if just for a moment, buried under far flung toddler limbs.


--

I am perversely pleased, waking up at 3am curled inorganically into a toddler bed.The soft sour-sweet milk breath of my son fans my face. His heart beats triple time against mine, even in sleep.

I've lost all feeling in my left leg from the knee down and it prickles pins and needles as I flex it awake.
My stomach rumbles & I wonder if it is either too early or too late for barbque...

Earlier that day, studying the cracks in her hand, Belle asked me why our skin was so cracked.

"Did God make us broken that way?" she asked.

I nodded, once, & opened my mouth to explain.

"We're little," chimed in Baz. "So he had to use lots of little pieces to put us all together to make one big good thing."

I kind of love that

Sometimes the simplest most childlike answer is the best...



--

My daughter is wearing hot pink leggings, a red satin Christmas dress (complete with white fur-trimmed jacket and stole), multicolored striped socks and black 'tap tap' shoes today.

I let her pick out her own outfit, cautioning it didn't exactly match...

When I dropped her off at the daycare three of her friends immediately ran up, hugged her and complimented her on her looking "so pretty today!"

Her look of triumph as she cast a haughty glance at me over her shoulder and waved bye, being dragged toward the playhouse, was epic.

Apparantly, I have no fashion sense.


--

Monday, January 4, 2010

Giving Back

It's that time of year again, cats & kitties!!!
Polar Plunge 2010 is upon us!

The Polar Plunge is a ridiculous good time. It's an event to raise funds for The Special Olympics. I'll be joining the IndyMojo.com for the second year.

If you're peeking at my blog, take 30 seconds to make a small donation to the cause. Every dollar helps.


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