Jack "Pollock" Kingston

Okay, so I know every parent thinks their child is a genius or the next DaVinci. I am no exception. I admit, though, I am surprised at how easily I've begun to fantasize about Jack becoming a brilliant artist. And not that I need him to be anything more than he is -watching him feed himself is brilliant enough for me. But, lately, Jack has been very busy drawing. That's all he does: draw, draw, draw. Typical toddler art- lots and lots of spirals and circles. Ever since he discovered a certain set of pens (the non-washable, of course), he's been manipulating them whenever he's not sleeping, eating, or having quality mommy, daddy or blanket time. I have these visions of walking into the living room, looking over his work and saying, "you've done it, Jack; you've cracked it wide open..."

The other night, we assembled our new hallway bench/coat rack from Target and Jack barely interupted (other than the occasional hammering "just like daddy"). He laid on the floor, thrilled to be coloring a long strip of white cardboard that came with the packing.

Last night we went out and left Jack with the babysitter. He was drawing on a notepad at the coffee table (of course). I told him that mommy and daddy were going bye-bye and that Lauren would stay and play with him. He didn't look up. I asked him for kiss. While still drawing, he leaned his head my way, still NOT looking up, and accepted my kiss. Did the same for Ed. Didn't cry at all when we left.

This morning, after a somewhat rough night coughing and being stuffed up with a cold, Jack sat on my lap on the couch with blankie watching whatever PBS kid show is on(as is our morning routine). He didn't sit there five minutes before he saw pad and pen- and off my lap he jumped, scrambling for this morning's artistic discovery.

Our house contains a gaggle of 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper, all colored in red, black, or green ink. Once he's finished with one, he throws it on the ground, drawing on the next. And, I have to admit, I like that he has an activity that keeps him so occupied (I've been waiting for this since he was born). I should save some of the "artwork" but they all look the same. I'll grab one that shows spark of his artistic individuality, but then, as a mom, won't they all look like that?