Mother

A small hand on my arm; the other hand raised to eye level, index finger gently pointed and waving to get my attention. "Excuse Me Mother" . . . I hear this phrase dozens of times every day from my 4 year old boy. No one has ever asked him to speak this way. He just decided one day that this was the wanted to address me, and ever since I have been referred to as "Mother." Not Mom or Mommy, but the very formal "Mother."

I have tried asking him why, and his answer is simple, "Because that's your name." Guess I can't argue with that :-)

Maybe it has something to do with all of the old books that we read (I love the sweet stories of the 50s) or something he heard on TV.

My name is just another extension of his own personal style. My son is such an individual. He loves wearing creative clothing combinations that cause people to stop, stare, and smile.

A formal tuxedo - two sizes too small - jacket on the inside, vest over it. Mismatched gardening gloves, sandals, and a bright blue shirt glowing from underneath all of the other layers. He is quite the sight at the local playground!

They say that encouraging creativity in children will foster the development of self confidence, enthusiasm for learning, and problem solving skills. From the looks of it, this kid has it made!

Why Not?

AKA: Mother

Silver Spoon

Ever heard the idiom "Born with a silver spoon in your mouth?"

In our family the kids aren't necessarily born with a silver spoon - but it is the first spoon that they eat off of. This is one of the many benefits of having an amazingly talented precious metal artist in the family. I love Irene's work.

Our little girl had her first taste of solid food this week.

Following the tradition in our family, Daddy gave her the first bite. Everyone had fun watching and she seemed to like it.

Then big girl wanted a turn to help.

The kids were curious about the cereal and both asked to try it.

Their verdict: "It doesn't taste like anything."

Okay, maybe she is a bit spoiled. Do you have your own servant waiting to wipe your face?

How about someone to whisper encouragingly when you don't get it right the first time?

Definitely pampered!

Broken Crayons

We love crayons. The bright colors, the smell of the wax when you open a new box. They are so simple, and so fun! We color with them, like they are designed for, but we do lots of other things too. Remember the old shaved-crayon-ironed-onto-waxpaper craft? How about crayon candles or leaf rubbings?

Then there is crayon paper peeling - this is a huge activity in our house. I will come downstairs to find the entire floor beneath our table littered with tiny flecks of colored paper, and only one page partly colored in.

By the way - yes, my kids are wearing white fabric scraps in that photo - they were pretending to be "Romans soldiers who fight the bad guys" I would explain it more, but I never did get the whole story.

Like every other house containing young kids, our house has hundreds, okay, maybe hundreds of thousands of broken crayons. We are creative - we love to play with our art supplies - but crayons break, that is just part of the reality of life.

There are dozens of websites out there telling you the exact procedure for reusing crayons. Simple. Fun. Recycling.

I thought we were pretty creative with our old crayons . . . And then I saw the work of Herb Williams:

Kinda' puts the tool of preschoolers in a whole new light doesn't it.