Coloring

As a little girl I use to love to color.  It may have been the influence of my mom who was an artist.  My mom’s artistic gene never made it to me, both my older sisters got it though.   Coloring for me was a way to feel like I could create something without having to actually draw the picture.  I can’t draw a straight line.

When I had my two sons I encouraged them to color when they were little but neither one showed any interest.  Any kind of work at school that they had to color came with dread especially for the youngest one. As they got a little older my oldest dabbled in it with felt pictures and markers but it didn’t last long. Both my sisters have at least one son each who enjoys drawing and they are really very good at it.  They definitely got the artistic gene from my mom.

Throughout the years, I continued to give my sons coloring books and supplies for birthdays and Christmas gifts hoping that it would inspire them.  But they sit in the office gathering dust.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about adult coloring books and how it is a stress reducer.  I have seen them in many of the stores and there is quite a variety out there.

One day just before Christmas I walked into a store and saw a huge display of coloring books for adults and decided that I was going to treat myself to one.  So after careful thought I picked Fun & Funky.

I have been looking at the coloring book on my desk since I bought it trying to figure out how to find time to start coloring. But with the holidays I have been just too busy.

Fast forward to New Year’s Eve.  With the idea of New Year’s resolutions swirling around in my head I decided to slow down and open my coloring book.

I sat on the couch coloring away – feeling calm and enjoying the time of just relaxing.  I have to say I can’t remember the last time I have just sat unplugged from any electronics or thoughts of what needed to be taken care of next.

My youngest son started to take an interest in what I was doing.  At first it was sort of a mock, wondering why I was coloring but watching very intently as I carefully picked out my colors and took my time coloring inside the lines. He even helped with color choices and sharpened the pencils with our sharpener before handing them to me.  We were enjoying each other’s company.

Then my eldest son who had been on his many electronics in the same room got up and left the room for a few minutes.  He came back with his felt poster and his box of art supplies, laid everything down on the floor and proceeded to start coloring.  I was in shock but tried not to show it in any way.  I didn’t want  to scare him away.

My youngest son, turned to me and gave me a compliment, telling me how nice my picture looked. He then said he wished he had something to color.  Again, my jaw could have dropped but I tried to stay calm and cool as I told him there were several coloring books in the office.  He said he didn’t want to color from those and said he didn’t have any supplies.  I quickly reminded him of the special gift of markers, crayons and pencils he got last Christmas.  He was eyeing my coloring book so I asked if he would like to pick out something from my book.  He lite up with excitement and carefully picked out a picture of the Ying-Yang symbol.

So the three of us spent time coloring on New Year’s Eve.  It was an unexpected moment but an incredible one.  I had tried so hard for years to encourage them but what I wish I had realized years ago was all I needed to do was slow down and do something for myself and they would freely join in.

Now I wish that theory would work with cleaning the dishes, doing the laundry or vacuuming.  I am always doing those things in front of them but it sparks absolutely no interest in joining in.  LOL

Hope you enjoyed our family’s small New Year’s Eve moment.  I sure did.  I wish you many small moments in 2016.  Love to hear about them and feel free to let me know if our moments spark any memories for you.