Thursday, February 25, 2010

Art Attack

Last week I did art with second-graders. It was like herding cats! Cute, quirky, adorable, defiant, creative, wandering, sassy, sloppy, funny cats!! ;^)

It was a fundraising project. The kids draw pictures and the parents are supposed to buy tote bags, coffee mugs, mousepads, etc. with their kids' drawings on them. I suggested the kids draw themselves or their favorite place.

Questions: "Can we draw weapons? Can I draw my mom? Can I draw myself with my favorite place in the background? Can I draw my dog? Can I draw Washington, DC? Can I draw a made-up place? Can I draw anything else besides those things?" OY. ;^)

We had only 40 minutes for the project. Some kids dug in right away, and others started meticulously sketching with pencils. Argh! Just color already! ;^) One kid drew a train on the front of his paper, and started to draw Washington, DC, on the back, then had a major confidence crisis and wanted to start over. I finally moved him to a table away from the other kid who was kinda harshing his vibe, and convinced him to stick with the train picture. It turned out super cute.

One kid just drew a ton of stick figures holding light sabers, and wrote the names of every Star Wars character he could think of.

Another kid drew a very artistic view of her living room, complete with detailed armchair, TV, and dog, incl. paw prints leading to the door.

One kid kept getting up to see what everyone else was doing, and did NOT like it when I told her (repeatedly) to sit down and finish her picture. When I put my hands on her shoulders once to guide her back to her seat, her body stiffened up; I tipped her backward a tiny bit for fun (like I do with my son), and she was my buddy from that point on.

Another kid drew his face, and when I playfully pointed out that he hadn't added freckles like I saw on his face, he smacked his forehead and exclaimed, " I KNEW you were going to say that!" Then he added freckles. ;^)

Two kids drew castles and peace signs and rainbows. They were the groovy girls.

One kid drew McDonald's, one kid drew Denny's, and one kid drew Wal-Mart.

IT WAS AWESOME. :-)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Truth Shall Set Your Stomach Free?

This morning on the way to school, the kiddo told me he had a stomachache. He didn’t feel feverish, so I told him I’d still send him to school, but if his stomach didn’t get better, he could go to the office and the office ladies would call me.

After a bit more consideration and conversation, he finally blurted out, "Okay! I spit out my vitamin in the toilet!" Hmm. Miraculously, no more stomachache after that!

Much to his confusion, I just laughed and laughed. If only all illnesses and problems could be so simple!