Artwork

Mounds and mounds of O's artwork fill our attic.  

I keep saying that I can't keep everything, but somehow I manage to find a place for it.  Our attic is filled with artwork.  I guarantee that if my house was inspected for fire hazards like a school classroom it would be condemned .. Just the quantities of O's work ... Finger paintings, dot paintings, watercolors, acrylics, tempera paintings, sculptures made of clay, wire and cement, jewelry made of beads, seashells and sequins, sewing projects using thread, dental floss and muslin, inventions made of toilet paper rolls, styrofoam and a red Hoover vacuumn cleaner O took apart and tried to make a robot out of.  Jeez,  I'm pretty sure we got that Hoover for our wedding.  The collection all started when she was a tot and it's stock-piled ever since.

At a Christmas bazaar I attended over the holidays, I met Kristen Brennan Matheis.  She was promoting Preschool Palettes.  Her business is for a mom like me to pay her to photograph thirty of my child's art pieces and she will produce a coffee table book as a memory keepsake.  Sounds great, right? When I went into the attic to see how many pieces of art that had, wouldn't you know I had 250 master pieces.

The next day I had coffee with a group of O's preschool moms.  I was telling them about this.  They thought it was brilliant.  My girlfriend, Marie (the queen of organization) did this kind of thing with her children's works of art last summer.  She and her children went through every piece of artwork they had stored away and had three piles:  the "KEEP" pile (those she would photograph), the "GIVE AWAY" pile (those they wanted their grandparents to receive and an "I DON'T KNOW" pile (aka TRASH).  Marie added that when she went to the post office to send the artwork to the grandparents, the woman behind the counter said, "Does your package contain anything liquid, perishable, fragile or potentially hazardous?"  Marie answered, "Depends on who's answering that question.  It's kid's art."  The woman smiled and ever so kindly asked if she wanted it sent first class, registered or standard.  Marie said, "The cheapest ever.  I just want it out of my house."  Then the woman asked her if she wanted the package to be tracked.  Marie said, "No thank you.  I just want it out of my house."  The woman asked if she wanted to insure the package.  "Nope.  I just want it out of my house."

This weekend O and I went through our artwork.  All brilliant works of art stayed in the KEEP pile.  I coerced her enough to give up 21 to the "GIVE AWAY" pile and 32 went to the "I DON'T KNOW" pile.  That said, we now have a total of 198 masterpieces to photograph.  Thank God for digital cameras. 

Kindergarten SUCKS!