The Beatty Family: Let's Make a Mess

William is not the kid who sits at the art table for hours to create works of art for family and friends. That is his sister. We try to get him to color, paint, draw, or even scribble and the moment is always short lived. I am sure you know where I am going with this.

Last week William was insistent on painting from the moment he awoke. He got out all the various types of paints, lined them up on the craft table with the brushes, paper and paper towels. I was coming down with a cold and hadn't been sleeping well & the cleaning ladies had been here in the morning so really the LAST thing I wanted to do was paint. Most of you know that a painting three year old is a lot of work for the mom (or adult supervisor) AND potentially a huge mess.

From December 2009

I was able to put him off until the late afternoon but he was so persistent, I finally gave in. We first started with watercolors. His typical attention span for art projects would have let me off the hook prior to breaking open the finger paints, but he was bound and determined. After a few watercolor pages he wanted to paint with brushes. I am usually very 'green' when painting and have clean plastic applesauce cups for each color (that require washing along with the brushes). I didn't have that sort of energy so I asked the world for forgiveness and just slopped the dollops on a couple paper plates and let him have at it. He was in heaven! He mixed it all up and covered every inch of page after page. I was beginning to run out of space to put the finished pieces.

After exhausting the brushes he wanted to finger paint. At this point I didn't even know who this child was so I was fascinated by the whole process. I eagerly got out more paper plates and put the finger paint out. He was a happy boy. I was so intrigued to watch him so carefully mix the paint and watch what appeared on the paper. He wasn't overly thoughtful nor was he rushing through. I abandoned my annoyance at having to get out a 'mess' when I saw how much he was enjoying himself. It was a fun and worthwhile project which yielded LOTS of art!