Daughter Doodles

We encourage our kids to re-use paper. If it isn't covered in text or drawings on both sides, it ain't used up is our motto. Yeah, it's a sucky motto, but we stick with it.

Sometimes, however, they apply this rule to papers I'm not quite finished with yet. Today's drawing of a singing mermaid is such an example. I had printed out some Cub Scout requirements I was going through with my older son. Daughter, who would be a Cub Scout in a nanosecond if she were allowed, decided to doodle on my paper when I wasn't looking. I like surprises like this.

Father-Son Art

Our youngest is fascinated with my boss. They've never met, but my kid knows vaguely that my boss is the guy who keeps me employed and, at my kids' end of things, supplied in food, shirts and pants he hates, and new Lego sets. So I'm constantly badgered into drawing pictures of my boss for him. Here we have a drawing of me with my boss. I'm on the right, drawn by my son. My boss is on the left.

Yes, my boss is bald, a fact that really bothers my youngest. He insists that I draw hair on my boss every time. So I do a token stubble, and that seems to satisfy the boy.

A-Camping We Will Go

In our house, we love camping. And hiking. And all sorts of outdoor activity. We've climbed volcanoes, hiked mountain trails, wandered the forests and swam in the oceans. This summer we begin a grand new adventure of hauling a 16 foot camper with our Honda Pilot. We've had a small Toyota pickup for the chore, but it's not got the cab space or gusto to go where we'd like. So, in anticipation of our new roving abilities this summer, our middle child drew with Pilot-camper combination. She was a bit concerned that the camper got cut off because of margins, but I told her that the point is made.

Evolution of the Suit

Our youngest is still fascinated with suits. Some of it is nostalgia for his first suit, which he quickly outgrew. He still holds the jacket in reverence in his closet -- the pants he could care less about; he's never been a fan of pants.

So he still draws suits. And the suit drawings he churns out are becoming more detailed. Behold:

Note the stitching, the addition of a bow tie and belt buckle. Still got that vacant, doll-eye expression, though, typical of his drawings. He's here now, offering comments:

Is that a picture of me? That is me! I wish you could get another one on your computer. A different kind, so I can type about it: This is me, and it would say I love you at the end, and it would say Love Isaac at the end.

He's so stream of consciousness, that boy.

The drawing also included this note:

It says (that is, if you can't read it):

Dear Dad i love you you are so handome do you no that your son is writing to you i like you. when you make fireplace.

I don't know what the meaning of that last sentence is, either.