February 23: The Art Wall (and Acorn Baby Jesus)

Recently, Henry discovered the joy and self-satisfaction that comes with the completion of an art project.  He's dabbled in paint, crayons, markers and even received his first pair of scissors this Christmas (oh, the coveted safety scissors.  Such a big deal.)  Henry would, on occasion, put these tools to use, creating some real masterpieces which we proudly display in our home.  Our collection includes three framed beauties that hang in his room and two very colorful works on canvas which are featured above our refrigerator.   There is also, the art wall.

The art wall began in our kitchen and, just today, was moved to a corner of the playroom.  It seems like the most appropriate place for what we expect to be a larger and more varied collection.  Until recently, Henry was immersed in what we'll call his "blue period", because, well, he rarely chose any color other than blue, and he really would lay it on thick...it took days for the paint to dry and we were left with these heavy, cracking, bluish cloud-like masterpieces.  Now, he's working more with mixed-media, bringing home a cotton ball wig for President's Day and a perfectly cut, laminated and popsicle-sticked groundhog puppet (not the work of unsteady safety scissors, clearly there were teachers involved).  No matter what he creates, I praise it.  I feel proud and in awe of how big and smart he is getting, but I am starting to wonder...do I have to hang on to all of this stuff?  It's starting to add up.

Is it my job, as a parent, to become a collection site for every single art project that walks through the door, or can I admire it and then chuck it in the recycling bin, for the nice garbage collectors to ooh and aah over?  As a kid, I expected my parents to cherish and keep every single thing I created, even if I wasn't particularly sentimental about it.  I mean, they're my parents, right?  That's what they do.  Even as recently as this Christmas, while checking out their beautifully decorated tree, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "Mom, where are all of the homemade ornaments??  WHERE IS THE ACORN BABY JESUS?!?!  I made him when I was three, for crying out loud!" 

Now, I'm pretty certain that Acorn Baby Jesus was most likely assembled by my preschool teacher, Miss Ferry (he has extremely small beady eyes glued to his little acorn head, affixing them would have been way too difficult for my sausage-like three year old hands) and yet, to me, he is beautiful, delicate and very, very important.  I am so pleased that my parents kept this treasure so safe for over 25 years.  It does mean a lot to me.  However, if Suz & Mac held onto every single thing that I or my sisters made, they would no doubt end up on TLC's disturbingly addictive show, "Hoarders" (did you see the one with the rats? *shudder*).

So, I guess my charge, as a parent, is to keep an eye out for the thing that will be Henry or Alice's "acorn baby Jesus", treasure it, keep it safe, give it a place of honor in our home, and know that many years from now, seeing their childhood artwork in the house will still mean as much, if not more than it does today.