Gabe's Rainbow Fish inspired by Marcus Pfister's illustrations.
I think it's incredible. I think all children's artwork is incredible. My own children's art.....well, I'm over the moon when they create. It is pasted all over our house, framed, taped, signed, unsigned, abstract, early symbols, picture's that tell a story. They amaze me. I have framed over our bed Boo's very first scibbles. Someone once said to me, "Wow! Now, that's a fancy frame for that picture." But, you see, it's so right for it, because it reminds me everyday of how much she has grown, everyone's, including my own, need to create and share ourselves with others, how wonderfully color brightens and enriches our world, and finally, that nothing is obsolete, stagnent, unchanging.....(in the metaphorical sense). My chemists husband, SD, would disagree with the last statement, so I had to end in "the disclaimer".
That is a hard lesson to hold onto as a parent sometimes.
"Will Johnny ever tie his shoes?"
"How come my child doesn't know their alphabet?"
"Olivia just isn't very coordinated."
Sometimes, without intention, we frame our own children. We place the borders around their world, pick a colored mat, "Patty always has liked pink!" and we close it and stare at what we have created. On occasion, or maybe even more than we like, we forget that our children are always changing. Some slower than others, many at warp speed. Children may have a clear path, while other's are all over the place. I am one of those parents that need to constantly change the artwork, leave craft stuff sprawled all over the table, pipe cleaners, glue, scissors, colored paper, stamps, stickers and let Gabe and Boo go at it. Create! Work outside the boundries! It let's me see them outside of the frame I have created for them.
I have to remember that change is inevitable. Gabe is always changing. I may not see the change for awhile, but it's happening....all the time. I may be so focused on language that I miss him jumping 3x in a row over a ball! He is creating masterpieces all day long in his world. He is trying on different colors, different textures, different everything.
I mention all this, because we are at a crossroad again with Gabe and his need to be around other children. He wants to play all the time! (Hooray!) But, I can not provide all that for him. So where do we turn. We have been thinking of many options, but seem to find ourselves back at square one, public school. I like the frame I have for Gabe now, but his artwork is telling me something very different. Don't you think?
