a sad momma moment for me last week...
My 4yo is a prolific artist and is quite attached to keeping his masterpieces...including every last coloring page from story time at the library or the doodles he does while the others do homework. Any mom can do the math: 3 kids X all the pieces of paper, art included, that they bring home...unless there is some culling, pretty soon you are living a nutty hoarder lifestyle with toenail clippings in jars and stacks of newspapers lining the hall.
Said 4yo is on to me and has begun checking the recycle bin to make sure nothing of his has made its way there. I try to hide his stuff (not the cool stuff, just the junk) on the bottom or take it to the big bin outside...but one day last week I forgot & tossed it on top of the bin. Well, he found it and came to me in almost-tears and said, "Do you hate it or do you love it?! Because you said you loved it and then you threw it away! Why do you throw my art away? Which is it - hate or love?"
Ugh. Knife in my heart. I suppose I contribute to the issue by being overly enthusiastic about everything...so I'll try to work on that. I've also made a small pile of really great stuff to frame & display rather than just taping on the door.
About Me
- DoulaMomma
- Wife, mother to three boys, former attorney and for the last eleven years, birth doula, childbirth educator, birth photographer, belly cast maker, placenta printer, birth advocate and former writer for The MotherHood Magazine. Oh, and blogger.
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5 comments:
Very funny Kim! I've had my drama queen daughter do the same to me. To help combat it, I now have their framed "artwork" hanging in their bathroom and she'll tell me when she wants to replace it with another masterpiece.
Oh, sad! Thankfully, my daughter doesn't really care if we keep her artwork - yet. Her father, on the other hand, who will throw out my passport if it's in the wrong spot, keeps EVERYTHING she makes!
"Her father, on the other hand, who will throw out my passport if it's in the wrong spot" LOL
good idea, Jennifer
Yeah. when my kids ordered some art stuff from school (they make the art, then the parent can order it on a notepad, tote bag, etc...), younger one wanted to get me a set of potholders... I have SO many potholders, not least b/c my older one makes them on the potholder loom... like she's made over 100. Anyway - so i said, "reallly honey, I mean I don't think I have even USED the ones you got me last year." loooong pause. Then her sweet face started to crumple and tear up, and she said, "mommy, you haven't even USED them??!" Thankfully, I quickly lied, "oh, I was confusing them with something else. Of COURSE i use them!" !!! aaaaah!
Oh my God DoulaMomma and doula Lynn your stories are killing me! These are sooooo tragic--I can feel what these kids are feeling and then what you are feeling. Awful.
"Why do you throw my art away? Which is it - hate or love?" This is heart rending.
My kids have never caught me dumping their art work, and of course we all have to, otherwise we'd be drowning in it. I don't know what I'd do if my kids caught me...
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