It’s good to have a full two-days rest. I took a break last Thursday to attend Pristine’s Art Festival in her school. Then of course I had the usual Friday break. What a difference a two-day vacation made.
Left: entrance to the school; Right: Scenes from the park - a drawing using KG1 children’s fingers soaked with paint
It is also my mother’s first time to visit my daughter at school. By her standard, children sent to school at a tender age of three is almost unacceptable…she thinks it is too early! My mom was a stay at home mom for so many years until her sixth child, my youngest sister finished high school so I can understand her predicament of thinking I am skipping some mothering duties by sending my daughter to school very early.
Left: Mom and daughter; Right: Pristine with her bestfriend
But when she expected to see her grand daughter sober, crying and tired at school, what she saw was very far from it! Pristine is so happy and lively at school, in the company of her friends. She has too much energy, her teacher told us, it would be a waste to confine her to the four corners of our house doing nothing.
Anyway, I was so amazed at her artwork. Was it just yesterday when all she could manage were straight lines with uneven strokes?
Left: Pristine’s work using her fingers; Right: KG1 class drawings - my daughter is the youngest in her class. Amazing to note that as children grow older, the more they use colors and experiment with them.
They were given aprons and paint in assorted colors and given ample time to make something out of the theme: “My Family”. If I had known this before, I would have freaked out with the thought, “what would she imagine us, her family, to be?”. Here is what she came up with:
From Left: My daughter’s perception of “Family”; the budding artist proudly pointing her masterpiece; making poses
I am so glad there are no monster faces here. It appears to be, she perceived her family to be together, the three of us present in her drawing, and smiling!! Never mind we are all bald and I have a yellow face and a huge nose!! Hubby laughed but he stopped when I pointed out he looks like Smurf with that blue face, lol!
Drawings from her friends of the same KG1 class
See the other drawings from her friends? Some of the children did not include their fathers in their artwork, with the people objects having long hair, clearly pointing to the mother and sister or the female member of the household. Most of the children who only depicted the female present are Japanese children whose fathers do not come home before bedtime due to overtime, tsk, tsk. If we had stayed in Japan, no doubt our daughter would have painted the same way. I am glad she included her father in her artwork. Hubby is so pleased, he almost cried!!
Oh my, I am musing a lot about this small event. Forgive me, I am just a mom. Drawings of children can be so moving because they are often so explicit. It shows their true emotions and their honest perception of the world around them.
So I hit the choc button in my keyboard and went out. I had no choice. The office was too cold, work load was too heavy, I needed some fresh air and unbelievably longing for the warmth of the sun. On my way to the elevator, I met the chummy lady working in the same building. It has been more than a couple of months since I last saw her. I stopped for a chat.
