Thursday, March 18, 2010

Cleaning out the pantry- my style


The pantry was a jumble of spilled food, lost staples, and crunched boxes, organized in kiddie fashion.  I am committed to clean out 1 area per day but cannot bear to waste time I could spend with my Littles cleaning.

To compromise, I brought them into the kitchen for drawing lessons.  I moved a cereal box, admired an ear, wiped off cracker crumbs, then found a black crayon.  As they drew, their appetite for artistic expression grew.  After the first pictures,  we conversed about the art.  "Where is your rabbit sitting?  Is he floating in space?  Oh, he's in a garden?  What is he eating?  How many trees do you think you can see that far off on the mountains?"  Each question probed the artist into further creation.

When  little, Heather and I spent hours in our coloring books.  We discussed the made up history of each picture we colored.  Mom would come to admire; then unable to resist, would shade a little here, or add a little color texture there.  Though tiny, we learned how to shade the outsides of a rounded object, how to focus the light, and how to mix more than one crayon for a textured effect.  I proudly felt the edge in elementary, as I had the premier skills till everyone started Jr. high art.  Heather became an artist.  My skill ended at shading balls. 


"Do you think her tail might be puffy?  I added a ragged puff to Sunshine's bunny rabbit, just for old time's sake.  Luckily, she didn't mind my small incursion and let me participate.  We enjoyed our art so much, only one pantry shelf reached organization nirvana today.

1 comment:

  1. that sounds like the way i clean my little house, do my dishes, plant my garden and what not - as you told of your experience cleaning, i thought of mary and martha . . . doing what is most important, although cleanliness is next to godliness, i think spending time with his little people is just a little more godly to Him, and Hell forgive a scrambled pantry or stacks of dishes n the counter. its funny, but doing the "godly" things make me more happy.

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