Yes, you can call me crazy

It should come as no surprise that I am trying to expose Grace to a variety of different experiences. In the 5 months she has been home we have done so many things. There have been few days where we just stay home and even if we are home we rarely "do nothing". Maybe some if it is "mom guilt" for having to go to work and leave Grace at daycare. And maybe some of it is making up for "lost" time during those first 9 months when she was in Guatemala. I keep thinking it is the quality of time we spend together, not the quantity, and I know I am truly a better mom because I work outside the home. It gives me balance and at the end of the day I can't wait to go get Grace to spend our evening together.

So, hopefully that doesn't sound crazy. Why the title of this post, then?

I'll tell you why.

I decided to try fingerpainting with my cranky 14 1/2 month old child who woke up at 6:30 this morning and only had a 2 hour nap today. And, I started all this at about 7:00 PM after a full day of work for me and daycare for Grace.

For a week now I have been considering fingerpaints. They are great for creativity, sensory development, fine and gross motor skills, and just plain messy and fun! So at lunchtime today, I went to a craft store and bought Crayola fingerpaints in 4 colors and big sheets of paper. I meant to search the internet for some tips on how to go about this without destroying the house at the same time. But I never got to that step.
Grace wore one of my old T-shirts that I clipped in back so it would stay on. I sat her at the kitchen table in her booster seat, squeezed out the paint, and demonstrated what to do. At first she just felt the paint on her fingers. Then she tasted it. (I tasted it too - not intentionally - and it was pretty nasty!) And finally, she put her hands on the paper and created some cool art. I wouldn't say she dove right into this activity and painted with abandon. She approached it like she does every new thing...cautiously.And within a few minutes she was having fun. You have to admit, all that gooey, sticky, colorful paint is pretty fun to squish in your hands!

When Grace decided she was done, she couldn't get out of the seat fast enough. That is what caused us the problems. She wanted "out" and started wiggling in her chair, getting paint all over it and herself, and dropping the painted papers on the floor. I couldn't figure out what to do first and I couldn't react fast enough. I wanted to wipe her hands (and face!) and let her get down, but then I ran the risk of her touching the chair with the paint handprints or walking through the paint on the floor and tracking it on the carpet. There wasn't a way to clean up the table, chair, and floor first, though. So, I lifted Grace up, took her over to the sink, and washed her hands, face, and legs (yes, there was paint on her legs). She eventually got a full bath and when she went to bed, I wasn't surprised that she fell asleep within minutes.

The result of all this was some pretty cool artwork. When you see the two papers together they make interesting abstract art. So, it was all worth it!

It was another full day...another new experience...for both of us!