Life In Color

Recently I blogged about my trip to Minnesota with my girlfriends. We were mainly going for the store IKEA. It's comparable to Crate & Barrel, only MUCH more affordable. I picked up this little table (called a lack table) in the color red for a mere $8! I thought it would be a great art table for our daughter to have, and at $8, I'm not too concerned about the table getting marks and scuffs.

The table was intended for her play room in our basement, but after trying it out in different places, it now resides in a corner of our kitchen. Since most moms spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchen, (and since she's still a little young to just send downstairs by herself to play), this seemed like a great place to put the table.  I had also bought a roll of butcher paper while at IKEA (for an easel in the basement)...but I've now covered the red table with butcher paper and it has become a coloring table!

Now, I knew our daughter enjoyed coloring, but now that it's readily available, she REALLY enjoys it! It's all she wants to do! No complaints from me, that's for sure. It's a great solution to the 5:00 window when kids around the country start melting down, Moms check the clock every 30 seconds wondering when in the world Daddy will be getting home, and everything seems to be falling apart. Ava just colors and colors and colors....even things that she shouldn't.

I really didn't think I'd have THAT issue....you know, where you find crayon marks on your refrigerator, or your new wooden floors that your husband put in, or on the oven door, or all over the sliding glass door. Yet somehow, the kitchen is looking a little more colorful these days than I last remember it being. Thank goodness Crayola has made washable crayons (and that we actually spent the extra 0.30 to buy it), so we've managed to remove the crayon marks.

The new crayon table is great because it keeps our daughter occupied at crucial times of the day and keeps her interest for a pretty significant amount of time....but now I have to teach her exactly what she can color on (and in a toddler's eyes, that's not  much).  I guess I've halfway solved the dinner hour dilemma. If I can just get Ava to color on the paper only, then I'd be set for the night!