strokes of genius
My heavens, is it the middle of summer already? It seems we wait so long for summer to come, and then it just flies by so fast. This morning began a new session of swimming lessons. Anya went in the water with an instructor, for the first time. She lasted 10 minutes or so, which was better than I expected. I hope by the end of the week she enjoys the whole 25-minute lesson so I can go swim laps.
I've got a whole list of neglected projects I swore I would do before the summer's out. Most of these involve cleaning and re-organizing, as well as some major yard work. I am loath to pay someone or a landscaping company to do the work that needs to be done, but there is a lot to do, and I haven't found time or motivation to do all of it.
The kids have been bitten by the Boredom Bug, too. A few days ago, though, I was visiting a friend of mine, whose mother told me that when they were little (there are 3 adult children in this particular family), in the summertime she would give them buckets of water and large paintbrushes and tell them to go outside and paint the driveway, the sidewalk and all the rocks in the yard. I tried this with Daniel and Anya over the weekend and it worked like a charm. Stroke of pure parenting genius! I think I should thank Mrs. F in person for this idea.
It worked so well, in fact, that they requested to paint with water the next day, and also this afternoon. I think it's so appealing because they are allowed to paint anything they want - the house, the deck, the sidewalk, even the car. Just not the screen door, please, or any open windows. And if the water spills, who cares? If they want to "paint" my legs, so what? It's just another way to keep cool in the muggy summer air.
Who'd have thought painting with water could be so much fun?
I've got a whole list of neglected projects I swore I would do before the summer's out. Most of these involve cleaning and re-organizing, as well as some major yard work. I am loath to pay someone or a landscaping company to do the work that needs to be done, but there is a lot to do, and I haven't found time or motivation to do all of it.
The kids have been bitten by the Boredom Bug, too. A few days ago, though, I was visiting a friend of mine, whose mother told me that when they were little (there are 3 adult children in this particular family), in the summertime she would give them buckets of water and large paintbrushes and tell them to go outside and paint the driveway, the sidewalk and all the rocks in the yard. I tried this with Daniel and Anya over the weekend and it worked like a charm. Stroke of pure parenting genius! I think I should thank Mrs. F in person for this idea.
It worked so well, in fact, that they requested to paint with water the next day, and also this afternoon. I think it's so appealing because they are allowed to paint anything they want - the house, the deck, the sidewalk, even the car. Just not the screen door, please, or any open windows. And if the water spills, who cares? If they want to "paint" my legs, so what? It's just another way to keep cool in the muggy summer air.
Who'd have thought painting with water could be so much fun?
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