I started drawing just a few years ago at age forty. I can’t believe how fun it is, even though I still can’t draw much beyond produce. The feeling of the pen and the brush and the paint and the freedom is so lovely; something else that’s lovely is how much my kids love doing it with me.
Having lost my father almost 12 years ago, what I find I miss most is the him-ness of him: the sound of his voice, the visual of his hands, the look of his writing. They are the things that, when gone, are gone forever. So last year some time, I decided to make a watercolor journal for each of my kids with my own handwriting and little drawings, so no matter what, they will always have a piece of my me-ness (and how much I loved and thought of them) close by.
I haven’t gotten very far. It may take until they leave for college to finish. That’s OK, I think. Along the way, Finn, my six-year old has created with me and the book has become ours together. My nine-year old likes me to surprise her, I think. Perhaps by the end, they will do all the drawings and I will watch over their work with a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit. Yum.
Anyway, I encourage you to try this with your own littles (or bigs!). And don’t tell me you can’t draw. I can’t either. But I am. xo
Here’s what we have so far.
The outside of the books look like this:
The inside of Reese’s front cover is very bright because she is my little sunshine:
Here’s Finn’s, my boy who likes to snuggle and ferret away small things:
Finn and I collaborated on this one, about the day he held a snake, on his 5 1/2 year old birthday:
This is one about how my sweet Reese adores math and how, I, the mathematically challenged, adore that she adores math:
