Bugs and Daffy in a Cave Full of Treasure

This morning, Victor woke up before I did. He came to find me in my bed and jumped on top of me. We chatted about this and that for several minutes before we decided to get up. Often when he's on restriction, like he still is today, he's extra sweet. Partly it's because he's on his best behavior, but partly I think it's because he has fewer external distractions. Without the TV, the iPad, or the computer, he puts his entire attention on Mom and Dad. I like it.

As soon as we got downstairs, he went to his iPad to find another Looney Tunes screenshot for today's snack sack. "Can you do this one?" he asked me.

"Um, you won't be able to tell what it is. I'm not even sure what it is," I told him. It looked like something from outer space. He didn't explain it. I still have no idea what it was, what cartoon it was from, why he'd saved it in a screenshot, or why he wanted me to draw it on a snack sack.

He browsed some more and showed me a picture of Elmer Fudd shooting himself in the face. The screenshot consisted of his body, a puff of smoke in place of his head, and his arm holding a revolver. "How about this?" he asked.

"That's not appropriate for school," I told him.

"Why not? It's just a cartoon."

"That's not appropriate for school and you know that," I repeated. I haven't shared with him any of the tragic stories about school violence, but he generally understands that violence and weapons are no laughing matter at school.

"Okay," he said and went back to browsing. He picked a snapshot of a cartoon car, with a silly screaming face on it, falling from the sky. Much of the car was not in frame so I told him I didn't want to do it. He thought he could find a better still, one with the entire car in it, but he couldn't find any in his set. In fact, many of the screenshots he's captured have incomplete views of the characters. He finally picked this snapshot of Bugs and Daffy in, "Ali Baba Bunny." He asked me, "Can you do this?"

"Sure."

"You can do it!? Yay!" he shouted with genuine enthusiasm and, I believe, some relief.

This one took a long time. It wasn't easy drawing all that treasure, but I was committed to filling it all in. Meanwhile, he'd finished his breakfast and brushed his teeth.

"Where's the snack sack?" he asked from around the corner. "Ooo!" he said as soon as he saw it. "It's awesome!"

When he came home that afternoon, I found the sack all crumpled up in his backpack. "Did you show this one to your friends?" I asked him.

"Yeah! They said, 'Wow! He is good!'"