Dinner is Art Class with a Scribble Tablecloth

It was a tired night for me. The kids were cranky, but we still had dinner to go before I could send them to bed! To make matters worse, it was a leftovers night (spaghetti) and I knew that my kids would whine about that too. My husband would not be home for quite some time.

It was up to me to change the mood of the evening. It was up to me to not go crazy as I did so.

It’s a good thing I have been reading The Giant Book of Creativity for Kids. I don’t see myself as a very creative person, but the author of the book certainly is. On a whim, I took up Bobbi Conner’s brief suggestion: I unrolled butcher paper on the table and grabbed some crayons. This was our tablecloth for the night.

My son is not often one to embrace coloring time. In fact, when I told him he had to draw for his supper, he whined about that too. But once he saw his little sister scribbling away and my own drawings, he too readily embraced the challenge. Having a scribble tablecloth gave a new feeling to the evening.

While I can’t say I’ll continue to spontaneous do creative things, reading Ms Connor’s book is certainly helping me see the possibilities for creativity even in the midst of whining days and nights! I have only just begun to read it: it is packed with ideas for parents and kids to add creativity everywhere in their lives.

Note: I am in the process of reading a review copy of Ms Connor’s book. It will be published March 24.

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