Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Graffiti Dog
Sometimes I wonder what kind of role models The Wife and I are for Luke. We’re both a bit goofy and way too sarcastic for anyone’s good. Our basic philosphies are that we’d rather do something funny now than think about the consequences. This started what I’m sure is going to be a disastrous situation the other day.
Luke got these markers recently. They’re washable, which is great because Luke has a habit of using the markers on more than just paper. Sometimes he colors the carpet, his clothes, the couch or even the dog. One time, Luke was coloring and he was waving the marker around as kids are prone to do. Snow just happened to walk by at that instant and got a blue marker right across her ribs. As you might imagine from her uncreative name, Snow is a mostly white dog. (She’s got some black spots and a brown head. “Slush” would be a better name.) So the blue mark really stood out. And we all thought it was funny.
And so we were sitting in the family room Saturday morning while Luke was coloring. I don’t remember exactly how it started, but before I knew it, all three of us were writing all over Snow. The Wife graffitied “Snow” onto her side. I wrote all over her back, as did Luke. She’s now a multi-colored dog. In fact, I’m thinking of changing her name to Snow and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Kind of long though. I’ll probably just shorten it to “Snow.” That’s a HUGE improvement over what it is now.
What worries me about this little coloring extravaganza is the lesson we’re teaching Luke. He’s now going to think it’s okay (even funny) to color the dog. I’m guessing that’s something we should discourage. But it IS really funny. Will I find it so funny when he does it to the walls? Or me when I’m asleep? (This is especially worrisome because I know that The Wife won’t say anything to alert me to the fact that I have “Dickhead” scribbled on my forehead. She’ll think it’s too funny.)
The Wife and I certainly have a “different” approach to raising children. Who knows if it’s better or worse than anybody else’s approach? Luke seems to be pretty well-adjusted and happy. He plays well and seems pretty smart. But when he comes home from college with tattoos covering 95% of his body, I think The Wife and will realize that maybe we should have told him it’s not funny to color the dog. The cats, on the other hand….
Luke got these markers recently. They’re washable, which is great because Luke has a habit of using the markers on more than just paper. Sometimes he colors the carpet, his clothes, the couch or even the dog. One time, Luke was coloring and he was waving the marker around as kids are prone to do. Snow just happened to walk by at that instant and got a blue marker right across her ribs. As you might imagine from her uncreative name, Snow is a mostly white dog. (She’s got some black spots and a brown head. “Slush” would be a better name.) So the blue mark really stood out. And we all thought it was funny.
And so we were sitting in the family room Saturday morning while Luke was coloring. I don’t remember exactly how it started, but before I knew it, all three of us were writing all over Snow. The Wife graffitied “Snow” onto her side. I wrote all over her back, as did Luke. She’s now a multi-colored dog. In fact, I’m thinking of changing her name to Snow and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Kind of long though. I’ll probably just shorten it to “Snow.” That’s a HUGE improvement over what it is now.
What worries me about this little coloring extravaganza is the lesson we’re teaching Luke. He’s now going to think it’s okay (even funny) to color the dog. I’m guessing that’s something we should discourage. But it IS really funny. Will I find it so funny when he does it to the walls? Or me when I’m asleep? (This is especially worrisome because I know that The Wife won’t say anything to alert me to the fact that I have “Dickhead” scribbled on my forehead. She’ll think it’s too funny.)
The Wife and I certainly have a “different” approach to raising children. Who knows if it’s better or worse than anybody else’s approach? Luke seems to be pretty well-adjusted and happy. He plays well and seems pretty smart. But when he comes home from college with tattoos covering 95% of his body, I think The Wife and will realize that maybe we should have told him it’s not funny to color the dog. The cats, on the other hand….
