A TV

A TV

"A TV," he said. "Not like, 'copy this TV,'" he continued gesturing toward our family room TV. "Some random TV," he added for further clarification.

I ran a search and handed him my iPhone. After he picked a plain TV reference, I thought to myself, I wonder if we are losing our creativity or interest level?

He's been less enthusiastic about picking new things. Plus, I've been more stressed at work which makes me tense in the mornings. I feel pressure to be doing other things like checking email rather than drawing. I put those pressures aside and pressed on, knowing that the idea of forcing some creativity in the morning is exactly what got us started on this project in the first place. I finished the TV pretty quickly not giving it a lot of my time or energy.

"Can you draw something in the TV?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," I replied.

"Can you draw this house?" he asked pointing to a knick-knack. "And this thing," he added as he walked over to the pantry door and held up a Christmas stocking that was hanging on the doorknob. I had never seen it before and don't know where it came from, especially on this day late in May. It was a stocking with a print of Santa flying in a hot air ballon over a house with Frosty looking up from below. Bizarre!

"Why would those things be on TV?" I asked with genuine curiosity. He had no answer and came over to sit in my lap. I was about to scold him for not heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth, but took a deep breath instead. He curled up in my lap and I sighed, enjoying his warmth. We were running behind schedule, so after a few moments, I began to gently remind him about the morning routine. He ignored me. 

"Can I draw something on the TV?" he asked softly.

"Of course," I said, forgetting about the clock for the moment.

He began with the fat tip of the twin-tipped Sharpie. "Do you know what I'm drawing?" he asked playfully.

"Waves," I replied.

"Right," he said as he drew a fish in the water with the thin tipped end.

He decided he wanted to add a boat, but confessed that he wasn't sure what it might look like. I ran a quick search and we picked a simple line drawing of a boat. His eyes repeatedly switched focus from the reference boat on my iPhone, then back to the sack. He drew carefully with deliberate lines. He's observant and matched each and every one of the boat's lines.

"I messed up a little bit," he said commenting on the parts that found their way outside of the TV. "Other than that it looks pretty good," he said proudly. 

"Very good!" I said praising his effort.

When he added the puff of smoke, he laughed, "It kind of looks like a puppy."

"It does," I agreed.

He drew an eye on the puff of smoke to further compliment the unintended effect. Then he added his name. "The R is going to be very tricky. Close your eyes," he commanded. "Can you find it?"

I did right away because I knew exactly where he would put it. "In the fish," I said.

"Yup," he said smiling. I smiled too. Our closeness and creativity had, in fact, never been stronger.