create (with kids): Embrace the Mess

As I wrote about here, I've had a hard time giving messy materials to Billy lately. After writing that post, I kept mulling over why that is. Is it because we're living in a staged, showing-at-any-time house? Why yes, that's definitely part of it- but there was still something more. Finally I realized what it was, it was adding one more mess to our day. You see, mealtimes have become masterpieces lately with my littlest artist. And I realized that I was hesitant to create messy art because I was spending so much time cleaning him up already! But then, the other day, I realized something that could help. Billy was eating pasta, and it was ending up everywhere. I wondered what would happen if some of it was to end up on a piece on paper?

It was a great success! And the best part? Doing art this way capitalizes on a mess we already had, which helps this Mama stay a little bit saner. Something that is helpful for everyone! (wink)

Side-note: You could try drying it, but we just snapped a picture for posterity's sake. Actually, I don't keep all of their artwork anyways. Instead I take a lot of pictures of their daily masterpieces and include the pictures in their digital scrapbooks. This way they get to enjoy it, and it becomes another visual documentation of how they're growing up. Which they are, everyday!