Painting with a 7 yr old

I confess, the cheery & chipper holiday spirit just wasn't in my heart today. It was a long day filled with many frustrations with the kids (kids doing kid-things), topped off with me not feeling the greatest. AND we had to make our weekly trek to the grocery store (nobody's favorite, but we like to eat, so.....)

After we returned and everyone got their schoolwork squared away, I stole some time to do a little painting. Dinner was in the crock pot (I love winter - soup season!), so my 7 yr old son and I collaborated. I figured working with him would loosen me up and be relaxing, if not entertaining. Oh, yes! It was just delightful. It reminded me that kids are kids, and that's part of why I love them so.

[Total side track: When I took my very first art class, my professor emphatically told me - in front of the entire class - that I had forgotten how to play! Ouch. His words stick with me to this day and inspire me to try new ideas without being so uptight. It's just paper, after all]

We started out painting a messy color background, then I asked him what it made him think of.

Spring. And whales.

So we dove in (ahem), passing the Sharpies and white Gel pens back and forth, occasionally turning the paper around so we could add to each other's doodles. He drew a tree - which eventually turned into a jellyfish. I drew some seaweed, which he later made into a dragon. We added loops and squiggles and bubbles and leaves....

And then he announced that the page was full - and we were done!

Whenever I flip through my sketchbook I will see this page and remember our mom-son time, and how mom needs to chill out and see the jellyfish in the trees.