Bragging Rights

Since my daughter has been in Nursery, people have always found it necessary to let me know that she is so good at coloring. She has only gotten better over the years. All though I take those comments with a knowing smile I also think, "Well duh, it's what we do all day. She better be good at it." Still though, she does surprise me sometimes. I remember the first time I was truly surprised was when we were at a friend's house and the older kids were coloring with colored pencils, coloring tools are not free reign at their house so it was a grand occasion for all their kids. Olea had previously only used crayons. After a while their 9 year old came running in with their 4 year old in tow, exclaiming, "Look, how good she does, she colors so Good!" He was carrying Olea's picture and had his sister bring her picture for comparison. After seeing that I switched out Olea's crayons for colored pencils. I am a firm believer in developing fine motor skills. Why do schools have kids use Crayons? They break, are messy, kids peel the wrappers and eat them and are never sharp? A colored pencil on the other hand is such a great choice, it keeps them occupied for longer, works on fine motor skills to a very fine degree and the finished product is so beautiful. Olea loves to color. We have fun together. So again she surprised me the other day. I gave her a picture from a "mommy coloring book" (one that I have from when I was younger that she only gets a page at a time from as rewards, because it's cooler that way). She decided she was going to color it for Grandma. When she showed me the finished product I was just thrilled with her. It was so fabulous! What I think is so great is that EVERY LAST SQUARE INCH IS COVERED. It's colorful and in the lines. I like her ability to transcend normal and do what she thinks, rather than just copying the color things might really be. Though with Sesame Street, no one would be the wise anyway. :)