Kid Art, get yer kid art here

Yup, I'm posting my kid's art. Why? Because it's so exuberant. If you don't agree, then you may be in a coma. If you're feeling comatose, perhaps some kid art will help. Jackson's going through a phase where he hates everything he draws upon completion. It's tough because he truly is a great artist (as most kids are), and his personality always comes through no matter what he's drawing, And because I love his personality so much, I love his art so much as well. But I'd love it anyway. Maybe you will too.





If you have a kid who refuses to make art, get some Mr. Sketch scented watercolor markers. They smell like blueberries and cinnamon and such and they make kids want to draw. The colors are rich too, although Jackson reports that the felt-tips themselves are "a little scratchy."

Freaked-out adults who don't want their children sniffing pens--I understand. I'm always catching Jackson trying to smell chemically packed drawing supplies, such as Sharpies and dry-erase markers. That's bad. But I guess we'll use it as a teaching moment and hope the brain damage is minimal.

I once made a Disney Pirates of the Caribbean model kit (Dead Man's Raft) with my friend Pam, and once she broke out her brother's airplane glue, it was all over for us. Much stomach-cramping laughter and rolling around on the carpet of their empty living room ensued before we realized that we were totally high on fumes. Actually we didn't realize that until years later. Sometimes kids are just high on life and it's hard to tell the difference.

Anyway, why was their living room empty? Because back in my day, many of our neighbors couldn't afford to furnish all the rooms in their newly built suburban tract homes. And rather than go into credit-card debt, they simply waited a few years to buy the necessary couches, chairs, window treatments and coffee tables. These empty spaces were excellent areas for kids to have slumber parties, play hours of Monopoly, or accidentally inhale glue. Quite a difference from today's home-owner attitude of, "We'll have to gut and update the entire house upon moving in." How did I get on this tangent? Art: it brings out the social critic in me.