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Jul 15 2008

Drawings in time

Category: At Home


I'm inundated with kid stuff. Brightly colored toys have taken over the family room and bedrooms. The kitchen cupboards are stuffed with plastic cups from restaurants, tourist attractions, and sporting events.  Yet, I know it's temporary. Toys are outgrown and sold at consignment shops or donated. Plastic cups wear out and are replaced by sports bottles.

But what about all the paperwork?

Each week, Nathan comes home with a backpack bursting with weekly assignments, art projects, teacher's notes, and event fliers. I put them in a large folding file. Once the file is full, I throw away the fliers and worksheets without regret.

But his drawings of crooked faces with spiky hair and squishy bodies with long limbs are impossible to part with. I love it when he labels them "mom" or "dad" especially since I tend to agree with his representation of my "grumpy mom, working in her sweats" appearance.

Lucie's drawings are even more endearing. She draws alien beings with lumpy potato shaped heads, big expressive eyes, button noses, and wide grins. Lacking bodies, their limbs are attached directly to their heads. Dancing, grinning, or reclining leisurely, the drawings show expression and humor. I often display the drawings on the dining room table. I smile every time I walk by them.

I could be really practical, and scan the drawings into the computer. Yet, there's something special about holding a piece of paper your child drew on years ago. So I compromise. I determine which drawings best represent a certain period of time, and put them away in "memory boxes" along with hospital bracelets, baby announcements, ticket stubs, birthday cards, and other mementos.

Since I have a fear of turning into one of those crazy people whose homes are filled with monster stacks of paper, I take the rest of the drawings, and shove them deep into the recycling bin. Quickly covering them with newspapers, my heart breaks at tossing the tangible output of my children's artistic souls. It feels like throwing away a cherished moment in time.