Postscript to When Too Much Is Really Too Much

On Tuesday June 5th I went back to the ceramics shop to retrieve Crystal's unicorn and my sugar bowl, which were fired and ready to go home. They were beautiful! Crystal's unicorn was shiny and purple with a brown mane and golden horn. My sugar bowl was done in southwest shades of turquoise and orange.

I brought them home and called Crystal to tell her they were at my house. Later that day she and her family came over for a barbecue, along with other family members. I showed Crystal her unicorn and we put it up on a shelf to keep it safe. On Wednesday, June 6th, when Crystal came home from school, I asked her what she wanted to do with the unicorn. "I don't know," she answered.

"Would you like to give it to your teacher, Mrs. H.?"

"Yes!" she said immediately. We found a pretty gift bag to place it in, then Crystal set about making a card. She drew a picture of Mrs. H. on the cover, then told me what she wanted the card to say on the inside:

"Dear Mrs. H.
I hope you like the unicorn that I made for you. You are the best teacher in the whole world."
She signed the card "Love, Crystal" all by herself.

This morning (Thursday) Crystal's mother, Jackie, and Crystal went to school a little early to give the gift to Mrs. H. before the other children got to class. As soon as she saw it, Mrs. H. knew that it was the unicorn Crystal had made the day of the beach field trip, because she had read the story on this very blog! She was very touched and very pleased to receive such a heart-felt gift. It will be a fitting memento of her year as Crystal's Kindergarten teacher. Crystal has learned so much in her class, even though being in a classroom with lots of other children has been very difficult for this home loving, shy-in-groups child.

I am glad she chose to give this gift to her teacher. I think I will Mrs. H. as much as Crystal! And I wish she could see Crystal as I do: this wild, loud, funny, happy-go-lucky child, this shining light, full of beauty and wonder.

Read more of Saralee Sky's articles on parenting in her online newsletter, Nutsense, on her web site: www.babynut.com.

Children's Art - More Than It Seems

Recently I had a birthday. And a big birthday party! Two of my grandchildren were there, as well as other family and friends.

It was a rainy day, but in the evening, the sun shot through the clouds and a beautiful double rainbow appeared. I ran to get Jordan, my almost four year old grandson. I held him in my arms on the back deck while we looked at the arc of the rainbows.

This experience must have made a deep impression on Jordan. A few weeks later, he started drawing recognizable shapes. He drew a large headed person in the middle of the page, with a small circle at the top left and a backward "C" next to the circle. Then he drew a big line around the sides and top of the picture.

"Who is this person, Jordan?" I asked.

"Nana!" he said.

"And what is this circle?"

"That's the sun and the moon," he said, pointing to the small circle and the backward C. "And this is the rainbow from Nana's birthday." He pointed to the large rainbow-like line around the sides and top of the picture.

Now all of his pictures include the rainbow as well as the sun and moon. Sometimes he draws more people than just me, but always there is that rainbow, that promise. Children often include what they are thinking about or what's important to them in their art. It's a portal to their inner life. Pay attention!

You can read Saralee Sky's articles on parenting in her online newsletter, Nutsense, on www.babynut.com.