When I’m not designing blogs… (Part 3)

I’ve been doing quite a bit of sitting at this wee desk with my lovely three and a half year old son coloring in with felts and colored pencils. Before doing this with Eli, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed the simple pleasure of using colored pencils to color in a picture. There’s something very relaxing and rewarding about the process. Despite the constraints of having the picture there for you, there’s a lot of creativity involved too. The last picture I colored in was of a basketball playing monkey !

Ever since our seven year old neighbor told him off for “scribbling” and going outside the lines, he’s been working hard at improving his drawing and writing skills. I love that he’s wanting to create something even in his pajamas right before bed. I took this shot to remind me of one of these many moments in his life right now.

I remember winning a number of coloring in competitions as a kid and took a lot of pride in doing them. Once I was awarded a prize in the middle of the local shopping mall (?) and once was a prize for a family’s dinner at Pizza Hutt. I also remember crying and being heartbroken when one of my coloring in pieces got wet and the felt colors ran. Even during high school I’d take great pleasure in coloring in maps for geography class using colored pencils, or elaborate artwork for school projects.

I’m secretly pleased he appears to be a left hander like I am. We’ve wondered if he would be since he was quite young, but haven’t encouraged either handedness.

Do you have memories of coloring in as a child?