Art Therapy

With nothing much planned this weekend, I decided it was time to clean up house a little bit.  Our tiny abode badly needs to be de-cluttered and organized.  Of course, because I hate to clean, I'll probably get little more done than a list of things written down that need to be organized, but whatever, that's still progress. One thing I did do was collect Harlie's modest collection of art supplies and put them into a cleaning caddy that Keri gave me. This excited me because now when I grab the crayons off the top shelf of the pantry, everything won't come raining down in an avalanche of Elmo coloring books and water color trays. In my organization frenzy (ha, hardly) I came across a box of washable paints that Harlie has had for months and never opened. When she saw them her eyes got wide and she immediately asked to paint.  At home she has used watercolors, but never actual paint like her cool cousins use on their awesome painting easel.  I dismantled an empty diaper box we had in the garage and laid it on the kitchen table and then grabbed a stack of cheap paper plates for her painting surface. Those plates are AWESOME!  They are sturdy enough to withstand the globs of paint and puddles of water Harlie slaps on them and the raised edges help keep most of it all on the paper and not on the table. For less than two bucks for a huge package...that's a good deal for a toddler size canvas. No wonder Harlie comes home from daycare with a lot of paper plate art.

After lunch today, Scott and I also joined in on the fun. And I realize this isn't news to anyone but man, painting is relaxing! I'm a horrible artist, but it doesn't even freakin' matter...it was fun and creative and somehow just brushing the paint over the paper makes you calm down and focus on the moment, with the only thought in your mind being where to put your next brush stroke.

It's quieting. I need more of that.