. . . played with Joey

today and made no art. Being a grandmother makes me want to go back and try again to be a mom. I think I could do so much better knowing what I know now. When I'm with the babies, I try to be fully in the moment, and sometimes it take a conscious effort to remember to enjoy them right now. When my kids were little, I was too worried about cleaning up after them and disciplining them, and I didn't join in the little day-to-day discoveries they made that were totally new to them but mundane to me. Many times I wished my kids would grow up so they could talk to me, understand what I was trying to tell them, be more reasonable, be more responsible, etc.


Joe wants to drive the Barbie Jeep and there is laundry to do. He drives the Barbie Jeep in the chilly drizzle, while I run behind it, hanging on to the back of it because he doesn't realize he has to steer it. Joe wants to chase the neighbor's cat; I'm out of breath and my knee hurts; we chase the neighbor's cat. Joe is intrigued by opening and shutting things, but his favorite thing of all is to watch the microwave go round and round and ding when it's done. He has discovered the doorbell and wants to ring it continuously. He knows where the snacks are kept, and he will empty the cupboard until he finds the Teddy Grahams or the cheese fishes. When he gets tired of eating them one by one, he dumps the entire contents of the bag wherever he happens to be standing. He likes to play in the potty, so we must keep the door to the bathroom closed at all times. He has learned to unhook the tray from the highchair and when he is done eating, he will tip the entire mess onto the floor, doing it so quickly there is no time to avoid the spills. He has learned "NO" and "MINE" although he doesn't have to make use of those words very often when he's with me. We discovered various methods of playing "horsey" yesterday, all of which hurt this old grandmother's muscles after just a few minutes. But I laughed with him and at him and he cuddled with me at naptime and everything was perfect. Joe and his family are headed to Florida today for a week's vacation. I'm so glad I had a chance to be with him yesterday and to see Betsy when they came by to take Joey home.


After he went home, I did go into the studio and play around with some of the tissue papers I had created cleaning my brushes from other painting projects. That's what the above picture is. I think I could crop it even further, taking some off the top (eveything from the "sun" upward) and a little off the bottom, and it would be even better. What do you think?