The Next Great Artist!

When Lottie first came to live with us we discovered she was going to be an amazing artist one day- her choice of medium- pooh. Her talent was first discovered by my husband when he called me at work to tell me that nap time had turned into a disaster beyond cleaning proportions! He went into Bug's room to find that she had literally coated herself, her bed and the wall with her fingerprint art. Yes, I know I'm disgusting but I didn't do it- I am just writing about it- 2 year olds are gross! I have to admit because it did not happen to me I laughed...I laughed a lot...and came up with cute little puns to drive my hubby insane. I couldn't help myself, "Sorry you're having a crappy day honey!" just felt so natural to say. He hated me for a few hours, but he got over it. It appeared that our daughter only liked to do her art work for my husband, I figured it was something special she wanted to share with him- their bonding ritual. She would create and he would spend the next few hours scrubbing her and the entire room down.

Because Lottie became so good at her art, we had to come up with something to slow her down. We tried duct taping her onesy, but she found a way our through the top arm sleeves (Maybe she'll be an escape artist). We tried safety pins but I freaked she might hurt herself. So the only conclusion I came to was, duct taping her pants around her waist. However, duct tape leaves residue and is not so easy to take off. So in our lack of wisdom we sought the experts and we shared our news with others, seeking out ways to help control this medium so that her art did not get out of control. I know some would probably label us crappy parents (See how easy it was....) for stifling her creativity, but we were willing to take on the title!

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that our child was not the only artist out there. Why had we never heard these stories before? I don't recall hearing them...ever..I know I would have laughed at them. Why did they hold these stories in, what was the secret? I'll tell you what the secret is... if you knew that your baby was going to turn into a pooh artist you may reconsider having children and so they keep these horror stories a secret to get you to join the parenting club and then they laugh at you when it happens and say "Oh yes, that happened when Matilda was a year old" It's almost like a hazing ritual for parents!

The best and most effective advice we got was for straight-jacket jammies! Straight-jacket Jammies or SJJ's are feet pajamas with the feet cut out and put on backwards. I fondly call them that because if you are an adult who created pooh art they would put you in a straight jacket and you would be committed, but as a child it's more socially acceptable so you just get the straight-jacket jammies. The SJJ's worked wonders and the art work came to a screeching halt. Which was convenient because summer was here and all our SJJ's were winter ones! That is until yesterday's nap time and this morning's lovely arrival...I guess Lottie wanted to share her art work with mommy this time! Daddy is so proud!