My little artist

Today I got a picture that my 4 year old son had painted at preschool. First off, my son is usually too busy at school to do any kind of artwork. He is usually building cities out of blocks, knocking down cities of other kids' blocks, or on a time-out. But lately he's been discovering his artistic side. Today I found a piece of paper that was entirely painted blue. It was a dinosaur. I knew this because it was labeled "dinosaur". It was rather good. While other kids made a blue blob on their papers and called them dinosaurs, he colored the whole paper blue. The other day I found a piece of paper that was entirely painted white. Yes, you guessed it. He painted me a snowstorm. My son is an artist.

Unfortunately, my son is also quite possessive of his art. He gives me the art, but then wants to hold onto it. Then he won't give it back. Soon, his art has learned how to fly. Eventually, his art becomes ripped. Then my son becomes frustrated and throws his art away. It is very hard to get some of his pieces of art and put them away for future viewings (i.e. blackmail). But I guess I can only have so many pieces of paper with one color of paint covering it completely.

I will say, he has become really good at drawing people. While he is still trying to master paint, he has become quite skilled at capturing my likeness with a crayon. Of course, his interpretation of me might be different from others, as my ass is coming out of the back of my head. I know this, because my arms and legs are also coming out of my head. And my hair stands straight up sometimes. But my stick arms have very long fingers. I think he thinks I am a piano player. My toes are pretty long too, so maybe he thinks I can play piano with my toes if my fingers get tired. But he gets my eyes, nose, and mouth in almost the right places. Sometimes my nose accidentally falls above my eyes, but at least I can smell, right?

Truth is, I have grown quite fond of his people drawings. They are the best of all his drawings. And I can actually see the beauty in them. And whether he has scribbled me something indescribable, or has taken his time in trying to make it as realistic as a 4 year old can, the look on his little face is just priceless when he brings it to me for approval. And I know he does it for love, and out of love.