Coloring

Josie has been coloring for about two years. We started by allowing her to use crayons, and in the last year or so, she has graduated to colored pencils and markers. For two years she has been a model color-er, doing her best to stay in the lines, keeping the colors away from non-coloring surfaces........until Tuesday that is:


Taking this picture was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Picture the scene: I am in the kitchen making dinner, Josie is in the living room, studiously coloring a My Little Ponies picture. I enter the room to ask her a question and she looks up at me with those guilty eyes. Good mother that I am, I affirm with my child that she knows that she is not to draw on herself (she agrees). I explain how hard it will be to get it off (she sadly nods her head). Then I say that I will show her how crazy she looks by taking a picture for her to see - you know, since we can't just look in the mirror! Still trying to keep a straight face, I snap picture #1. In it she looks like a scared puppy in big trouble. This makes it even harder to keep a straight face. (I have saved her future embarrassment by not posting it here.) Finally I hold the laughter in long enough to remind her to smile for the picture and, voila, the beautiful goatee-sporting girl you see above!