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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

toddler art: day 2

As I sit here, my husband and Evan are putting together a train track. Such a nice view. Behind them is a window through which all I see is white. We got about 3-4 inches of snow yesterday. I'm still not hating on winter this year. Winter in Wisconsin is usually pretty brutal, but it's been relatively mild this year and so has my attitude about it. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm just happier or that I've got something really great to look forward to this winter, but I am definitely more upbeat this winter than usual. I really don't care if there's snow on the ground. Perhaps I'm just used to it. Don't get me wrong, we still need to get out of here. I still don't like snow, but this year I'm just a little more tolerant.

Speaking of tolerance, I've really had to work on my patience more lately. A 2 1/2 year old boy is quite the creature. He's such a sour patch kid. (Anyone seen those commercials?) At toddler art class last week, I experienced such a moment, probably the biggest testament to my patience yet. As we were waiting to go into class, he played with the other kids and the toys but when it was time to go in, something snapped within him and he DID NOT want to go in the classroom. For whatever unknown reason, he was really freaked out. He cried. A lot. And it was genuine. After a phone call to his papa, a couple animal crackers and some milk, I finally talked him into going into the classroom.

I felt embarrassed. The rest of the kids in his class are girls (save one other boy quite younger) and I'm not sure if they have these problems too. It makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong. Why does my kid misbehave and melt down? Why do theirs seem like angels? Perspective, I suppose.

The project last week was making snowmen. Evan did not enjoy the glue. But he did enjoy telling me what to put on his snowman. So this project is a collaboration. He and I created this piece together. I did most of the gluing, but he told me where he wanted to put things. He understood the project and by the end, was more excited about having gone into art class. Plus, they got to paint at the end and Evan + painting = smiles.
The snowmen were felt circles glued to a piece of construction paper. After that, there was an assortment of items to choose from to build the rest of the snowman. Our snowman has button glasses, pine hair, popcorn nose, a raffia mouth, fabric scarf, seeds for buttons and all over the bottom of his body, twigs for hands and feet. The snow is just punches of white paper and the snow on the bottom is paint.

I know this phase won't last forever, so instead of being frustrated, I am choosing to practice patience. It's such a better view.

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