Friday, May 6, 2011

Friday: A Family Lives Here - Exhibit 5

I'll be posting each Friday with the same theme of "A Family Lives Here". Hope you like it. Hope you join in on the fun.


This post is a bit late this morning, as I am celebrating the last day of Children's Book Week! You still have time to enter the giveaways - scroll down for them!

Exhibit 5:


When I was a kid I had great desires to be an artist. I remember trying to learn how to draw out of library books. Of course, the operative word being "try". That's pretty much all I was able to do. I am however, an expert at stick figures and vague replications of animals.


My husband is an exceptional artist. He simply has that skill. So I'm grateful that my daughters have gotten some of that from him. 


 This picture was also taken of one of the Tasmanian devil moments - takes me a day to get everything straightened up, it takes them mere minutes to wreak havoc. 
Some days I just have to breathe and let it go...it's how I achieve a level of peace.

I grew up in an Asian home where unrestrained creativity wasn't the norm. I vowed that one day, if my kids wanted to let it all go ... I would not only allow it, I would welcome it.


Imagine my surprise when my oldest received some tiny nail polish from a birthday party when she was three or four and I discovered this:

 

I was devastated, at first. I thought her bed was utterly ruined. Then I realized, it's just a thing. I remember getting in very big, very bad trouble when I broke things accidentally as a kid. I vowed as a kid to make sure my girls knew they were always more important than things. I hope I'm doing an okay job at it. 



When both girls started sharing a room we purchased a bed from Ikea and my oldest immediately got to work, personalizing the bed. She created "Luna and Bony's howes" when she was four or five years old.



I love Luna and Bony's house. They were finger friends. One on each hand. She would play with her finger friends, as they traipsed around in their house. It makes me beyond happy at how imaginative my daughters are. Yes, little sister also had finger friends, Bonny and Zakani.


My home is also killing forests one by one. My daughters are constantly drawing. In fact, my oldest begins drawing and writing the moment she wakes up, until I after I put her to bed. I am often threatening (which is all it ever amounts to, I value her creativity too much) to take all the supplies away if she won't put them down to eat, or go to sleep. She is a creative force to be reckoned with.

Since their inexpensive bedroom furniture will one day be replaced, I let them... decorate it how they like.


Cheers!

Do you let your kids express themselves? 
How?


Photobucket




We're like detectives, scouting out evidence that a family lives here.
Join me by posting a proof of family, with your commentary.
Then, tack on my button and include it in your post. 
Remember to add your link via Mr. Linky.
Ready, set, go!

4 comments:

Emily said...

Wow. You are amazing. I let my kids be creative but I'm not sure I'd have the control (sanity) to let them decorate their furniture!

leigh hewett said...

I love that you unleash all the creativity on furniture. My kids like to draw on the windows. It drives me a little bit crazy.

QueenScarlett said...

Emily - you are too kind. I love seeing what they come up with... maybe it's my wistful side... for that little girl I used to be.

Leigh - I bought some of those dry erase crayons, markers work too, the dry erase kind... they love that too!

Guileless Mom said...

My three year old has discovered the thrill of putting pen and marker to task on various surfaces. What is it about exploring different canvases that is so thrilling for kids??? I try and give them plenty of variety to experiment on so they don't unleash the urge on my couches and walls!