Art Eddy reflects on the dangerously devilish cleverness of children.
I have two girls. One is three years old and the other is one. I try to make sure we are doing something fun each day. One great way in my experience is working on some type of craft. Whether it is making jewelry, funny hats, finger painting, or just coloring with crayons I try to keep them busy and entertained. Recently we got huge sheets of white paper and crayons to make some holiday cards for their grandparents. Sounds harmless enough right? We were having fun and then the phone rang. It was one of my friends calling to see what weekend this year would be good for our yearly trip.
As I was on the phone I stepped into the kitchen to take a look at the calendar which was my first mistake. I did not realize how quiet it got in the other room. I checked in on them to see how they were doing and they were no longer at the paper coloring but at our brand new, clean, and white front door. My oldest looked at me and started to giggle. I knew that something was up. I went over to see what was going on and I saw that my youngest went from coloring paper to coloring on a fresh, blank canvas which was our new front door.
It took all of my strength not to yell or get upset. I calmly said to my youngest, “Sweetie, we color on paper and not the walls, furniture, or doors.” She looked at me and smiled and went back to the paper. As we were still coloring, my neighbor came by to ask me a question. My oldest told me that she needed to go to the potty and I said good bye to my neighbor. I locked the screen door and kept the front door open, second mistake. I helped my three old to the bathroom and usually my youngest will follow me. This time it was not the case.
She instead went to the other side of the door and wanted to color that side. Again, I was calm and I again explained that we color on paper and not the walls, furniture….etc. When I was cleaning the front door, while watching my daughters now more frequently than ever, I suddenly started to chuckle. All of a sudden the lines of Bob Peck’s character, Robert Muldoon, from Jurassic Park came to my mind. It was the part where he explains about how the velociraptors remember things that make them intelligent beings and how they learn on when to strike. Plus how quiet they get when they are on the hunt. I started laughing and thought of my youngest as a little velociraptor and how she knows when she can get away with things while I am tied up on something else.
So the title of the article may sound harsh, but as you see it was just a funny thought going in my mind while scrubbing red and pink crayon off the door. For me now more than ever it is the little things in life that make me smile especially when it comes to my girls. “Clever girl!”
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Past and photo originally published on Life of Dad.
Love this column, and love Art Eddy! Look forward to the next show, man.
I kept looking at the heading “Kids Are Like Velociraptors” and all I could hear was friends and family reporting to me about the escapades of their little monsters, demons, helions …. and I had to wonder how some more kids had gotten lost in Jurrasic Park!
Having read, I do get the point! I do sympathise…. and even agree!
I can also imagine how my nieces, nephews and god children will be labelled in future! P^)