Open Ended Painting - The Messy Version

My boys love painting and I love to let them paint, with anything and everything. I prefer doing open ended art with them than craft work as I like how different the artwork turns out from them. And there’s no right and wrong or very obvious comparison as to who did a better job. I’m extremely sensitive since they are of the same age and jealousy issue can be a big problem. They are constantly subjected to comparison in school, from strangers, relatives and friends. Who is smarter? Who is more independent? Who eats more?

Anyway, back to the activity, on this day, I was adventurous enough to take out all my paint, possible tools that they can use to paint such as sponge, squeeze bottles, pipe cleaners, pom poms, etc and let them do whatever they want with it. I was feeling the pinch with the amount of paint (esp when it’s Crayola) they used at the end but I guess the freedom of expression that they get to experience should be worth it.

The boys enjoyed themselves but I had a major double meltdown towards the end as the paper gave way.

I still like the whole experience but I will only attempt this again until they (and I) forget how upset they were at the end. Until I find a thicker paper that can withstand their artistic strokes and also cheaper paint.

The boys totally engrossed in their play.

Paper + Glue + Beans = 45 mins of peace

We are not quite done with the terrible twos x2 phase though the boys are turning 3 years old in about 3 months time. I made a very brave decision to transit them to a big bed as they are outgrowing their baby cots and with the allergy cough that I suspect the bed to the culprit, we purchased 2 car beds for them. It had been a nightmare . It’s been 1 month and I’m happy to say that they are slowly adjusting to their new beds though they still ask for their old beds every now and then.

It’s mostly child led activities in the house these days since they have their old favorites like Marble Painting and Car Painting. It’s not an uncommon sight to see them with their cars and paint at 7am in the morning still in their PJs.

Back to the activity, on this day, Y suddenly ask for glue. “Glue?! What do you want to glue?” I asked. And all that came after that was whining “I want Glue! I want Glue!”. Ok, they want Glue and I’ve got to find them something to glue. In the kitchen I go and out came some beans and so here are my boys totally focused. I just love the serious work on their faces when they play. I like to observe how they different they play. Y make patterns with his glue before pasting the beans creating a masterpiece while K puts a dot for every bean, very systematic.

Are you happy with your life?

Recently, I have been thinking. Am I happy? My days are affected by the roller coaster emotions of 2 2 years old toddlers and I find myself unable to be affected by them, being the adult. I don't do any work that challenge my mind unless you regard tackling a pile of laundry and dirty toilets mind challenging.

I like being a mom, a stay at home mom who get to spend quality time with my children, knowing exactly their likes and dislikes, their temperament, shares their ups and downs and most importantly, grow with them. However, I'm someone who can't stay home. I have never spent so much time at home. I like being out. I like to meet people. I like to be financially independent. And that's the part that makes me unhappy. With my 2 highly sensitive boys, it's very hard to find someone who I can leave them with. My mom has offered great support, unfortunately, my 2 toddlers reject their grandmother badly. They are very demanding, they want someone who can respond to them, who can talk to them, read to them, sing to them but my mom just like to cook for them. And with a doting grandparent, they create havoc with no discipline. My mom probably counts up to hundreds with her 1.2.3 with nothing happening by the count of 3. My boys happily count with her while doing things that are totally unacceptable. So, I'm pretty stuck with them with no space of my own, especially on some days when I desperately need it. That makes me unhappy.

I'm trying hard to find that balance but I think that might take another year. I believe the time will come when my toddlers start to gain some sense, with better self control. For now, I'm taking baby steps to make me happier, to be a better mom. I'm trying to make arrangements that allows me to go for meditation class once a month and I'm hoping to sign up for a piano class at a nearby music school. All these are only possible with a supportive husband and mother. Now, all I need is supportive children.

Brotherhood

Sweet moments. I love them loving each other.

Block Painting

We have some old blocks and I thought I should try to do something with them before dumping. So, here we have some blocks painting. The boys enjoyed it and I kept a few for future painting.

Materials Needed:

Blocks

Paper

Paint

The boys, engrossed in their paint work.

The final product.

Drip Painting with Watercolors

What You Need:

An easel or any upright painting space

Watercolors

Dropper (I got mine from Daiso)

Containers for watercolor

Paper

Method:

I showed the boys how to pick up water using the dropper and how to drop the water and they were ready to explore.

I let them choose 4 colors each and was surprised to see that Y chose darker colors while K chose all the bright colors.

While painting, they used different techniques. Y squeezed the dropper and splatter on the paper while K just drop a little water at a time and used the dropper like a pencil to draw his train and track (according) to him. It’s really interesting how different children explore. They enjoyed this painting session very much and it lasted for 40 mins. K could continue painting but I think Y got jealous when I was taking pictures of K’s painting. So, I had to quickly redirect them to another activity before Y starts throwing the droppers and pouring the paint.

I thought the artworks produced were frame worthy. Left belongs to Y and right belongs to K.

Bad Day

A bad day is when

• Your twins refused to go home after school and ran to the playground on their own. After giving in and setting some rules, they don't stick to your agreement of going home after the last time down the slide. That means struggling home with 2 uncooperative screaming kicking toddlers. Lugging them home probably require the strength of 2 well built men but there's only 1 petite Mom.
• Your twins refused to get in the room for story time before nap resulting in another calm down time. 
• When they finally nap and you were trying to get a plumber to fix your kitchen sink, you were told to get a handyman and after making several calls, you were told that you need a renovator contractor instead. After getting a contractor, your heart sank when he said you probably need to replace quite a few things to fix this and that means "expensive job".  
• You thought everything is good when the boys woke up from their nap looking happy. So you happily took out some paint and did a painting activity which then lead to frustration when the paper was torn and that caused an 1 hour plus epic double meltdown marathon which you have no idea how to end it.
• One of them decided to have another meltdown during dinner and pinched you real hard that got you fuming mad and you felt like giving him one tight slap. He kept repeating yes when you ask him if it is right to pinch. He refused to say sorry and said sorry to his brother instead of you to spike you.    
• When you finally made him admit his mistake, the other twin suddenly burst into cries and ask to paint again. 
• When the torturous dinner is finally over and they were playing with their buses happily and you really thought that the bad day should really come to an end, one of them needed to poo but refused to go to the potty because he wanted to play with his bus. When you finally got him there, he refused to sit down and just kept crying for his bus and starting pooing all over the floor, on his legs and on his clothes and was fighting to get out of the bathroom with poo all over him. At this same time, the other twin was crying to go to the potty too and you had no idea how you managed to get him up on the toilet seat while stopping the other crying twin with poo all over him from dashing out of the bathroom. 

Now, totally beat and drained in my own calm down place, my husband is back from work and I believe the bad day is really coming to an end. I hope.