Locker Room #sol16

I swim laps — twice a week — after dropping Isabelle off at school. There’s a pool in the same complex as her school so she likes to accompany me to the locker room before I drop her off with her teacher.

I have no idea why she likes going to the locker room. Let’s be honest: it smells like feet. But she enjoys watching me put my things away in a locker before I take her to class. Most of the time no one is there so we just chat for a few minutes while I put my things away. No one is being hurt by this (except for her olfactory sense) so I indulge her locker room requests whenever we get to the complex with time to spare.

This morning, just before we left the house, I noticed Isabelle was busy cutting the corners off of some construction paper and affixing stickers to the same paper.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “It’s almost time to go.”

“I’m gonna give this to someone in the locker room.”

“Who? There’s usually no one in there.”

“Someone will be there,” she replied.

“How do you know?” I asked.

She didn’t answer me. She kept on working until I said, “Come in to put socks and sneakers on!”

The pitter-patter of feet came down the hallway with her masterpiece in-hand. I tried not to roll my eyes. There were Bad Kitty stickers all over the paper. Just what a random adult would want from a random kid.

* * * * *

Carrying the Masterpiece

 

 After I swiped my membership card at the front desk, I asked Isabelle, “What will you say when you hand the paper to someone?”

No response.

“You’re not going to just shove the paper in someone’s face, right? I know you do that sometimes when you give away your art. You have to say something first.”

She nodded.

“What are you going to say?”

Still no response as we walked down the stairs. Was she ignoring me?

“Are you going to say ‘this is for you’ or will you just shove the paper at the person?” I inquired.

“I’m going to say, ‘I made this for you.'”

“Great!” I replied.

Isabelle insisted on opening the door to the women’s locker room. “After you,” she said.

I giggled. How old is she?

We walked in and Isabelle beelined to the only woman in the locker room — who was in the middle of getting undressed! Before I could even ask Isabelle to give her a moment to get her clothes on, Isabelle walked right over to her and said, “Hi, I made this for you.”

“For me?” the half-clothed woman said.

“Yes!” Isabelle declared.

“Did you make it by yourself or did your mom help?” the gracious woman inquired as she donned her pants.

“By myself,” Isabelle said proudly.

“Well, thank you,” the lady said.

“You’re welcome,” Isabelle responded.

The lady got dressed as I unloaded my swim bag into the locker. Just as she got ready to leave she told Isabelle, “I’m going to hang this on my wall when I get to work later.”

“Okay,” was all Isabelle said. But honestly, I think that made her day.

Head over to http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com for more slices of life.

Advertisement

Garage Gallery

I returned from a marvelous writing retreat at the Highlights Foundation last night to a sick child.  As soon as I heard her wet cough and looked at her red-rimmed eyes, I knew I had to cancel the school visit I was planning for today.  While I kept thinking that “reality bites,” my most important job is Mom.  So here we are, at home, exhausted (because I slept with her since she was coughing a lot last night) at 10 a.m. on a Monday.  We’re just biding our time awaiting her 3:30 p.m. doctor’s appointment so we can figure out what’s really wrong.

With nothing much on the docket for the day, I decided it was time to hang up some of Isabelle’s preschool artwork. Let me admit to something my mother thinks is quite terrible.  I throw out a lot of Isabelle’s artwork.  (There.  I said it.  In a public forum.)  You know why?  There’s SO much of it.  I cannot save it all.  There are a few pieces I save in a keepsake container in our basement, but the sheer volume of it is too much to physically store.

Just so you don’t think I’m a completely horrible person, know that I take photos of the things I toss and save it in an Evernote notebook.  See:

Click on the image to enlarge.

This morning I decided it was time to STOP letting the artwork pile up. So I asked Isabelle, “Would you like to help me display your artwork in the garage?”

“In da gawaj?” she asked.

“Yes, on the walls of the garage.  This way you can see your works of art every day when we come and go from the house.”

She considered it.  “Okay! I’ll help you!”

“Put on some shoes,” I commanded.

“Can I weah silwuh shoes?” (Silver shoes are her part of the signature look she’s created for herself.)

“Sure, you can wear your silver shoes into the garage.”

And so she did.

Isabelle and her dolly pose in our garage gallery.

We spent the next 20 minutes creating a gallery of her work.  From the life-size Isabellsaurus she created with her teacher during their class’s dinosaur unit to the paintings she creates on the easel to a glittery skull she made at Halloween, it’s all up on our garage walls.  She helped me hold the paper straight while I placed the tape loops behind the artwork.  She helped me choose the places where each piece would hang on the wall.  She brought some of her stuffed animals out to the garage so they could admire her work on the gallery.

When we were finished, I asked her what she thought.

“I love it!” she responded.

“Would you like to hang more of your artwork in this garage gallery as you bring it home from school?”

Her face lit up.  “Yes!”

So apparently, the garage gallery will be a compromise, of sorts, for us going-forward. It’ll be a place for Isabelle to proudly display her preschool artwork.  And it’ll be in a place I can both live with (i.e., not on the walls of our home) and not feel guilty about (i.e., by tossing).  I think this garage gallery will be a win-win, don’t you?

Everyone Can Fly + a Book Giveaway

“Flying Isabelle”

Isabelle had my favorite kind of play date yesterday afternoon since it involved a museum and a craft project! We met up with Joanna and her son at the Susquehanna Art Museum. The museum re-opened in Midtown Harrisburg a few months ago in what used to be a bank. First, we attended story time in “The Vault.”  The museum educator read Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold to the kids. Next, we went into the art studio for a craft project. All of the children received a cut-out flying body, like Cassie Louise Lightfoot, to decorate. Isabelle needed some assistance designing “Flying Isabelle,” which turned out pretty well.

My favorite part of the day was heading upstairs to the “Everyone Can Fly” Exhibit, which features the picture book art of Amy Bates, Jonathan Bean, Lauren Castillo, Megan Lloyd-Thompson, Faith Ringgold, and Shadra Strickland.  The exhibit wasn’t just a bunch of canvases in frames — though that would’ve been enough for me.  It had interactive components, which delighted my daughter and all of the other young visitors.  Here’s a look:

Isabelle and Jesse enjoyed playing on a three-dimensional Tar Beach rooftop. (The construction hats were part of a different section, which had lots of dress-up items.)

Running back and forth on the drawbridge was great fun for Isabelle. (This kept her busy while I spent time with the art.)

We studied the center painting from Amy Hest and Lauren Castillo’s The Reader. The museum had book version of The Reader there so I was able to show Isabelle how the book’s designer added Hest’s words to Castillo’s painting.

Jonathan Bean is the most local of all of the regional illustrators whose work was featured in this exhibit. Therefore, it was fitting to have a large table set up for kids to recreate some of his illustrations from his 2013 book, Building Our House.

If you don’t live in Central Pennsylvania, but find yourself driving on I-81 or on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the next couple of months, visit the Susquehanna Art Museum. “Everyone Can Fly” is an exhibit picture book lovers of all ages will enjoy!

F Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Beach House by Deanna Caswell and Amy June Bates, which will be on-sale in May.

Finally, I was reading the review copy of Beach House to Isabelle at bedtime.  I always read the author and illustrators’ names and when I read Bates’ name I made the connection.  Amy June Bates was one-and-the-same as Amy Bates whose work we had seen at the museum earlier in the day!  I pointed that out to Isabelle who said she’d like to go back to look at Bates’ paintings again.  Another visit to an art museum?  Sure thing, kiddo!

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

• This giveaway is for a copy of Beach House.  Many thanks to Chronicle Books for donating a copy for one reader.
• For a chance to win this copy of Beach House, please leave a comment about this post by Monday, April 5th at 11:59 p.m. EDT. I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winners, whose names I will announce at the bottom of this post, by Tuesday, April 6th.
  • Note: This giveaway is open to anyone with a USA or Canada mailing address.
• Please be sure to leave a valid e-mail address when you post your comment, so I can contact you to obtain your mailing address if you win.  From there, my contact at Chronicle will ship your book out to you.  (NOTE: Your e-mail address will not be published online if you leave it in the e-mail field only.)
• If you are the winner of the book, I will e-mail you with the subject line of RAISING A LITERATE HUMAN – Beach House. Please respond to my e-mail with your mailing address within five days of receipt. Unfortunately, a new winner will be chosen if a response isn’t received within five days of the giveaway announcement.

Comments are now closed.  ReadWriteThruLife’s commenter number was drawn so she’ll receive a copy of Beach House.  Here’s what she wrote:

Um Wow! What an awesome exhibit and opportunity for dramatic play centered around a book. I teach Young Fives and this exhibit makes me green with envy!!! Also, I attended the Michigan Reading Association Annual Conference this weekend and sat in on an hour and a half session with Donalyn Miller yesterday. She “whispered” about over 100 books. Beach House is on my “gotta have” list. While I would love to win it, I will definitely be buying it! Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience!

Head over to http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com for more slices of life.

A Parenting Lesson

I dragged myself out of bed this morning. I promised Marc I’d take Isabelle out so he could complete a work-related project. But I was sick.  Not pneumonia sick, but flu-like body ache sick. Sore throat sick.  Massive headache sick.  I knew I could back out, but I didn’t have to heart to do so.

 

painting on what may have been layer number five

Halfway through our day out together, Isabelle and I found ourselves painting pottery. Isabelle insisted on painting a mug for Grandma. She picked three colors and began painting. Eventually she dipped her green brush into my white paint. I implored her to rinse her brushes, going-forward, before dipping her brush into my paint.

30 minutes and eight colors after she began painting Grandma’s mug, she was swirling color upon color, layering the glaze so thick.  I noticed some non-glazed spots.

“You should paint those,” I said pointing at them.

“I don’t want to,” she replied.

“But the handle needs some paint on it.”

She looked at me, annoyed, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“You’re right.  It’s your project for Grandma, not mine.  I’m going to mind my own business and get back to painting my bowl for Bubbe.”

“Good,” Isabelle said.

I learned something from this interaction. And maybe I wouldn’t have if I was feeling better. Perhaps I would’ve pressed her to paint those empty spots (or would’ve done it myself) if I didn’t feel so sick. Instead, I stopped bossing my child around and let her continue her art project. It may have 11 layers of glaze and some non-painted spots, but it is her project. She’s proud of it.  And she should be.  (The only thing I helped with was writing “For Grandma. Love, Isabelle. 2015” on the bottom of the mug.)  When she gives that messily-painted mug to my mother-in-law it’ll be her own creation, which I know will make her proud.

Lesson learned.  Sometimes I have to butt out!

I stumbled upon…

Tape Art in Progress

I walked out of my office and shut the door behind me.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I walked towards Isabelle’s play room.

Neither Isabelle nor my husband said a word. The two of them were hard at work, on the floor, working on an art project.

I almost fainted.

You have to understand… my husband is not an artistic person. I got him to paint pottery with me once when we were dating in New York. Other than picking up a crayon to color with Isabelle in a restaurant, I haven’t seen him to anything artistic since the pottery painting day.

But there he was, on the floor of the play room, beside Isabelle, facilitating her artistic creation.

{My heart melted.}