I don't know about you, but I really don't like doing art projects with my kids.
There are several reasons for this:
1.) I have a hard enough time trying to keep my house clean as it is and adding whatever mess might be generated from said art project will only compound that problem.
2.) Once said project is completed, where on earth am I going to put it? (refer back to point 1)
3.) Having multiple ages means either many art projects or absolute chaos trying to get different levels to complete the same project.
4.) Not only am I a bit of a perfectionist, but I've managed to pass this gene along to at least one of my kids- which means that there will be weeping and wailing from at least one person- and it might even be from a child or two.
However, in my valiant attempts lately to reduce the amount of time that my children spend glued to a screen of some sort (thanks peers for introducing yet ANOTHER 'really cool game' to my children that they are now absolutely.obsessed.with! I thought I was going to skip that by home schooling!), I figured we'd finally try one of our home school art projects that I've been putting off for like 2 (or is it 3?) months.
What's that quote, oh yeah, 'It was the best of times and it was the worst of times'. Too true.
But when the dust finally settled, entire jars of paint that had been poured out by the 3 year old were returned to their appropriate jars and the projects were finished- there was a sense of accomplishment and at least one life lesson introduced.
When life's frustrations hit us, it is SO easy to focus all our energy on it. We obsess over it. Try to fix it (and usually only make things worse). And even get mad at those who are trying to help us through it. Kind of like how our art project went today.
Honestly, it really wasn't much fun.
But as we persevered (sometimes through tears), all of a sudden things began to take shape. Suddenly the pieces that didn't look too good on their own started to actually look rather nice when viewed as a completed project.
I told my kids that art is about the whole project, not the individual parts. Just as my life is about the whole, not my failure of the day (again). We can get caught up and bogged down by the tiniest things, yet God wants us to look to Him for the bigger picture- to just keep going. To learn each day's lesson to the best of our ability and then get up and do the same thing again tomorrow and leave the details to Him. He's infinitely better at handling them than I am anyway.
So, to leave off, here are our projects from today. Each piece really does capture a bit of each child's personality (some with a bit of help from mom, of course).
And, I've come up with a great idea of what to do with our art projects- they are going to be gifts to bless people with. Win-Win!
There are several reasons for this:
1.) I have a hard enough time trying to keep my house clean as it is and adding whatever mess might be generated from said art project will only compound that problem.
2.) Once said project is completed, where on earth am I going to put it? (refer back to point 1)
3.) Having multiple ages means either many art projects or absolute chaos trying to get different levels to complete the same project.
4.) Not only am I a bit of a perfectionist, but I've managed to pass this gene along to at least one of my kids- which means that there will be weeping and wailing from at least one person- and it might even be from a child or two.
However, in my valiant attempts lately to reduce the amount of time that my children spend glued to a screen of some sort (thanks peers for introducing yet ANOTHER 'really cool game' to my children that they are now absolutely.obsessed.with! I thought I was going to skip that by home schooling!), I figured we'd finally try one of our home school art projects that I've been putting off for like 2 (or is it 3?) months.
What's that quote, oh yeah, 'It was the best of times and it was the worst of times'. Too true.
But when the dust finally settled, entire jars of paint that had been poured out by the 3 year old were returned to their appropriate jars and the projects were finished- there was a sense of accomplishment and at least one life lesson introduced.
When life's frustrations hit us, it is SO easy to focus all our energy on it. We obsess over it. Try to fix it (and usually only make things worse). And even get mad at those who are trying to help us through it. Kind of like how our art project went today.
Honestly, it really wasn't much fun.
But as we persevered (sometimes through tears), all of a sudden things began to take shape. Suddenly the pieces that didn't look too good on their own started to actually look rather nice when viewed as a completed project.
I told my kids that art is about the whole project, not the individual parts. Just as my life is about the whole, not my failure of the day (again). We can get caught up and bogged down by the tiniest things, yet God wants us to look to Him for the bigger picture- to just keep going. To learn each day's lesson to the best of our ability and then get up and do the same thing again tomorrow and leave the details to Him. He's infinitely better at handling them than I am anyway.
So, to leave off, here are our projects from today. Each piece really does capture a bit of each child's personality (some with a bit of help from mom, of course).
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| Elijah's box- done all on his own. |
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| Jeremiah's box- mostly on his own with a bit of help from me. |
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| Samuel's- I helped outline the roses and he painted the rest. |
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| This is Noah's box- he painted the bottom and I painstakingly painted the pattern on the top, only to have him 'finish' it by adding some purple hearts. I have to admit that at first I was upset- but now as I look at it, it's so him and he did it because he wanted to show me how much he loved me. How can you argue with that? |
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| The other sides of Noah's box. |
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| Rebekah's- the beige spots in the centre are where it was so soaked with paint that it ripped out. The boys all figure she's got a career in abstract art! |
Well, that's it for today.
Keeping it real, by the grace of God...
Tammy
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