Drawing to a Close
Submitted by
Karen Wrye Whitton
Toddlers can be intense at times. They get obsessed with one craze and it seems that is all they think about, whether it is Thomas the Tank Engine, wearing their WonderPets cape 24/7, chicken nuggets or their favorite ball.
My son's current fixation?
He is obsessed with drawing and all things art. Only, it's not actually him that's doing the art work—it's me!
So, I have to confess: I've had to start hiding his crayons! I feel so very guilty about this little spill because my beautiful son loves his crayons and drawing. But he is at me all day—and I mean all day, with the persistence of a lobbyist on Capitol Hill—to draw for him, but I am so not an artist! Nonetheless, I've learned to draw some pretty mean cars and trains, castles and flowers, shapes, and cute swirly letters and numbers. Then, when I've run out of ideas of things to draw, we color in his giant Mickey Mouse coloring book or we venture outside to chalk on the driveway.
Redirecting him to actually do the drawing himself doesn't work. I put those crayons in his cute, chubby fingers and try and get him to create, but after a couple of attempts at his own masterpiece he simply hands them back with a look of bemused wonderment piping up with a, "Mommy, dwaw a twain" or "a pwane" or "a twuck."
I'm not so worried about the fact that he really doesn't have an interest in drawing himself, more that I might be scarring him for life by hiding his crayons! That by not pandering to his obsession at all times, I could be destroying his love of art. After all, I could have budding Picasso on my hands, but what else is a mommy to do when she needs a little respite?
He is obsessed with drawing and all things art. Only, it's not actually him that's doing the art work—it's me!
So, I have to confess: I've had to start hiding his crayons! I feel so very guilty about this little spill because my beautiful son loves his crayons and drawing. But he is at me all day—and I mean all day, with the persistence of a lobbyist on Capitol Hill—to draw for him, but I am so not an artist! Nonetheless, I've learned to draw some pretty mean cars and trains, castles and flowers, shapes, and cute swirly letters and numbers. Then, when I've run out of ideas of things to draw, we color in his giant Mickey Mouse coloring book or we venture outside to chalk on the driveway.
Redirecting him to actually do the drawing himself doesn't work. I put those crayons in his cute, chubby fingers and try and get him to create, but after a couple of attempts at his own masterpiece he simply hands them back with a look of bemused wonderment piping up with a, "Mommy, dwaw a twain" or "a pwane" or "a twuck."
I'm not so worried about the fact that he really doesn't have an interest in drawing himself, more that I might be scarring him for life by hiding his crayons! That by not pandering to his obsession at all times, I could be destroying his love of art. After all, I could have budding Picasso on my hands, but what else is a mommy to do when she needs a little respite?
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