Art from chaos

My two-year-old prefers me stinky and greasy. I know this because she finds ways to punish me anytime I take a shower. She pulls all the books off the shelves, empties clothes hampers, cleans out cupboards. Her favorite area of terror is in my bathroom. As she wreaks havoc, I'm helpless, watching through the glass, desperately trying to rinse the shampoo from my hair. It's a horror movie, without the knife. I shout over the sound of water for her to stop, please stop. But she knows there's nothing I can do. Step out, wet and dripping, and take away whatever she's playing with? Whatever. She just bides her time, knows I'll get back into the shower, and she'll be free once again to make my bathroom her playground.

Here's her latest masterpiece:

I cleaned up all the bandage wrappings off the floor and put away everything she dumped from the cupboards, but I'm keeping up the Band-Aid art. It's kind of pretty.

Comments

[Je Reve]

I used to put band-aids on my old (but really cool, complete with drawbridge and windows) dollhouse. And on my dresser. The magical art of household products collage is fleeting, however. I love to babysit little picassos and see them arrange books, socks, and laundry into different things. Except I'm not in the shower (thankfully)!

[Janelle]

Hahaha! I love it. That looks like something my two-year-old would love to do!

[Nadia]

This is funny, but if the 15-year-old tries it, she's cleaning it up herself.

[Anna]

It seems that children are perfect angles many times, that is, until we turn around for two seconds. :)

[Nikki]

I totally bribe my kids with educational computer games when I shower. The 5yo controls the mouse and the 2yo watches. But band-aid art seems cool, too!

[Becky Williams]

Too funny! I did something similar when I was two. Apparently, I'd made the wall my art canvas with a box of crayons. I had somehow developed a conscience by that young age and knew that nobody should see what I had done. So, I waddled into the bathroom, grabbed a big box of maxi pads, removed the tapes of several and stuck them all over the wall, thus covering the error or my ways.

[Laura Z M]

Clearly, the gal has an eye for style and composition.

Plus, remarkably good manual dexterity.

And, above all, excellent timing.

[Celes]

Nice.

[Karen]

Um...perhaps a lock on your bathroom door would be in order. Or showering in the middle of the night. Then again, you'd miss out on all that lovely artwork. My brother once created a beautiful collage of milk and cocoa powder in the middle of our kitchen. A tasty masterpiece indeed. He eventually learned to use a cup, but hey...that's boring.

[Natalia]

Love it!

[Libbi]

Too funny! I used to color on the walls all the time, but I never thought of band-aid art...too bad I'd get grounded for a year if I tried it now. Well, maybe not if I bought my own band-aids...hmmm. I need to write this down and remember it the next rainy day. Mwahahaha....

[Shannon M.]

I have to say I'm impressed. Most kids would've piled them all on top of each other--so I see signs of an artistic aesthetic. Who knows, 30 years from now and that drawer may be a priceless "original work" of the new "it" artist? :)

[urbiggest12yroldfan]

thats so cute

BTW i just finished forest born and its my favorite book
i made sure our class library had it too

[Shannon Morris]

Thanks for sharing, it brought back a memory I hadn't thought about for a while. My now ten year was two at the time and "supposed" to be napping with her pregnant and sleepy mother. I woke to find an entire box, year supply, of band aid wrappers on covering the family room floor. The band aids themselves were covering my two year old, every inch of her. I think she learned her lesson as I pulled each sticky little strip from her hair and eye lids.

[annette]

oh, that is precious... my son found the sharpie while i showered. that was permanent.

[Marianne]

I think that's adorable!

[mwt]

Have you considered having her in the shower with you? That's what I did when the sprogs were still tiny. Bathtub toys, tub crayons and an incredibly slippery little body underfoot-- not exactly a relaxing shower, but I didn't spend as much time cleaning up as I did getting clean.

[shannon hale]

Thank you SO MUCH 12yroldfan!

Shannon Morris, I hope you got a photo. That is so awesome.

And I have to out her because she's too modest - mwt is the fabulous Megan Whalen Turner, who I adore in every way possible, and who has a new book coming out in March. Hooray for new MWT goodness!

[Britt]

This is hilarious and I love it. I have an 18 month old and I totally know what you're talking about. My favorite is the look they give you just before they're about to become destructo child. The look that tells you they know they shouldn't.

[julie]

aren't kids art work great and love their imaginations. I've learned to hide the band aids in our room because we have had many messes like that..kids are joy.

[Christen]

Heh heh... she's a smart girl! The Band-Aid art is adorable. :D

[imk]

This reminds me of a time I tried to check the mail while my then 2 yr old was finger painting in the kitchen. (I know...what was I thinking!) I came back to Curious George style art throughout our house! I left a hand print on the light switch for ages. It just made me smile! Amazing what they can do in a matter of a few moments!

[deb sorensen]

I read "The Actor and the Housewife." I opened this book with such excitement! I have had this book on reserve at the library for probably four months. I finally read the first few pages and sighed with disappointment. One of my favorite things about u is that you are not the typical female LDS author who tells a tragic story of star crossed lovers, with some sort of spousal death, creating an opportunity for a conversion of faith, and there by making it entirely possible for the star crossed lovers to be united in endless bliss. Ahem... I decided to keep reading because the humor was worth it. I remember even trying to quote one of my more favorite conversations between Becky and Felix: the conversation of "it's national pirate month, didn't you know? ARRRR!" to my spouse only to be looked at with a raised eyebrow.

Though some things were typical female LDS writing, U added totally new twists and turns that allowed me to still give this book five stars.

Nice work, Sister Hale. And no, I don't do LSD.

[Bekah]

Thank you for your blog. It's always uplifting. That's one reason I love your stories so much. You help me from getting completely discouraged about writing too.

I just read Forest Born. It was beautiful, and I'm SO glad the m.c. decided to apologize to that guy!! I was afraid she wouldn't. Btw, I KNEW so-and-so and so-and-so weren't going to die because they're the best characters ever!

[Stacey]

My daughter is just hitting 19 months and has decided that shower time is the time to wreak havoc as well! I came down from the shower the other day and every dvd and cd had been pulled off the shelves and spread across my family room floor.

Not nearly as fun as Band Aid art because I couldn't leave it there!

[Chelsea]

I get scared when my two year old cousin finds the easy button...haha :]

[Amanda]

beautiful :D creativity must run in the family!

[Katie-wa]

Get a playpen. Like those Pack-n-Play type, so she can nap if she wants but still be enclosed and safe with a few toys. Those have worked like magic for all my many siblings, and they're rambunctious boys, too. Oh the joy of being a mommy. I feel like I've been a mom because of having 4 little brothers and babysitting half my life. LOL

Also with Pack-n-Play's, they're perfect for traveling places to stay overnight. No crawling away, a clean place to contain them if needed... they're really excellent pieces. ^_^

[Libby]

I had a similar experience w/ my 1 and a half year old today--I had to use the restroom, and I could hear him pulling CD's off the rack, and I could call to him to stop, but of course that didn't work!

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1257020463]

I love it. I choose to take showers only when my kids are asleep or when my husband is home. Mostly because I think my kids will kill each other before I get out. However, when my oldest was 3, he took my lip liner and drew the sweetest picture for me on the bathroom mirror. I left it there for months and even took a picture of it to scrapbook.

[Dee Smith]

I love the band aid art! I really battle with myself when wiping away my little girl's handprints from windows and mirrors.. one day those tiny hand prints will no longer appear and the hands they belong to will be much bigger! Heart-warmingly irreplaceable! :-)

[Hannah]

Totally sweet! Just like my little sister would do(if it was possible!)! :)

[Melanie]

My 15 month old does the same thing to my bathroom while I'm showering or getting cleaned up. Every single day.
I'm entirely empathetic.