It Would Seem I Cannot Multi-task

or
Why I Shouldn't EVER Turn My Back
or
He's My First, Can You Tell?
or
Picasso in our Midst
or
Thank You, Crayola
or
Arts & Crafts Time Needs More Direction

Have you figured it out yet?

I was on the phone with my Grandma yesterday, also chopping vegetables for dinner while chatting. Wyatt was playing; I could hear him and just *assumed* the noises were due to cars or balls or blocks or puzzle pieces or play food or books. He was entertaining himself, I was getting things accomplished, all was right with the world.

As soon as I hung up the phone, Wyatt was at my feet saying, "no no" which always indicates he's either getting ready to do something he shouldn't or he's just bringing to light his recent bad behavior. In this case, it was the latter since he had purple crayon in hand and had just scribbled on the floor. I got down at eye level, took the crayon (as he handed it to me; this is an interesting character trait and I'm curious to see if it lasts. It's the "I'm naughty so you should just go ahead and take the instrument of my devilishness" hand-off.) and told him we only color on paper and no coloring on the floor and started to take him toward his paper. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this:

which led to this:
and this:

So I did what any self-respecting blogging mom would do: I issued a time-out so I could take pictures and come up with a plan. Wyatt, who already knew he'd been NAUGHTY, accepted his time-out like a man. I'm happy to report he accepted his punishment equally well, which consisted of him helping me clean it up. Picture us, side by side with our wet dishcloths, scrubbing away the purple lines. I wish I had a picture of that!

My favorite part? I was scrubbing the floor (see last picture above) and Wyatt disappeared around the corner into the entry with his rag. I started to get after him with the whole, "no running away, you are going to finish helping mommy clean!" but as I leaned around the corner I realized he was still on task - I just hadn't noticed yet that his creative expression extended through the entry way and across the front door. Wow! He'd been a scribbling fool while I chatted.

Lessons learned:

1. Never leave the crayons unattended. Ever. Kind of like a child in a bathtub, there's never an okay time to turn your back on a toddler with access to crayons!

2. It is very important to always purchase the washable crayons, since these miraculously disappear with just a little water and elbow grease.

3. When we paint our house, we should make sure the paint is scrubbable, just in case!

4. I can do two things at once, but not three. Phone + watching Wyatt with crayons = okay; watching Wyatt with crayons + preparing dinner = okay; phone + preparing dinner = okay. Phone + Wyatt + crayons + prepping dinner = RED ALERT!

5. I'm so glad I documented the artistry; Jeff couldn't comprehend it until I showed him the photos. This way he had the joy of seeing what 22 lbs. of reckless abandon can accomplish in ten minutes.