I am thankful for The Artist. He is his own person, and always has been. He doesn’t care what people think of him. He is who he is.
He has many interests. He loves art, Legos, playing the drums, science, piano, and doing flight simulators on the computer.
For years, all he wanted to be when he grew up was an artist. But in the last year, he has changed it on me. He now wants to be an engineer for NASA. He has discovered that he loves science! He is so excited about it!
9 days. That’s all it took for The Artist’s bedroom. And the first day I was at work while they pulled everything out into my front room. I have to say the hardest part of all the redecorating is having the mess in my front room. I use that room as my quiet clean room where I can go and relax. And when it’s full of the kids’ stuff, I can’t sit or relax!
So day 1 was pulling everything out, days 2 and 3 were painting, and we got his bed put back in at the end of day 3. The next 3 days nothing was done. It was the weekend, and then the first day of school (Whoo Hoo!). Then it was hanging shelves and painting picture frames and organizing.
Here is a before picture (the only picture I could find of the room. Ignore the crazy kid in the middle!):
And after pictures:
As you can see, I chose NOT to strip his dresser. It a weird sort of way, it looks good in the room. I am sure I will change my mind later, but stripping the first dresser is too fresh in my mind right now! The Artist uses it as a desk for his drawing, so it will never, ever be that clean again!
My favorite project in this room was his drum stool. The Doctor salvaged it from work and it worked fine, but it was gray and scratched up and not pretty. I bought a can of navy blue spray paint and went to work on it. I love how it ended up!
I got this room done in 4 days less than bedroom #1. I was quite happy with that!
The Artist just turned 14. Here are some reasons why I love him.
1. He has the cutest giggle. He loves to laugh and be silly. That keeps us light hearted and helps us not be so serious all the time.
2. He is very spiritual. A couple of years ago, he read The Book Of Mormon all the way through on his own and prayed about it and received a witness that it was true. He cannot bear his testimony without crying. It touches me that he feels the spirit so readily.
3. He is passionate about so many things. Art, astronomy, singing, drums, robots, and several more. He is not locked into liking just one thing, so he is easy to buy for.
4. He has always been able to entertain himself. From the time he was little, he would (and still will) lay down and play with a car for hours, driving it around.
5. Along with #5, he likes to make sound effects. I am constantly hearing sounds of cars driving and airplanes flying and motorcycles taking off. Even when he is playing video games, he will create his own sound effects.
He is such a good young man.
My children are growing up on me, and I can’t stop them.
The Princess started 1st grade this year. That means she is in school all day long. She is loving it. She comes home each day bursting with stories about the kids and things that have happened (I love it because the boys never tell me anything). Her teacher said that she has a very unique quality, in that she is friendly to everyone. Not just to her friends, but to all the kids in the class. I am so proud of her, because that is something I have really talked to her about, and tried to teach her. She is reading so well. We read from the scriptures for 1/2 hour every morning, and then each child goes to their room for reading for one hour each night before bed. Not only does it help their reading, but it gives them time to calm down and be ready for bed.
The Chocoholic is in 6th grade. He loves walking to school with The Princess because last year he had to walk alone. He got a great teacher this year, and she is really going to challenge him. I am thrilled about that. He is an entrepreneur and loves to make money. Right now he is selling Silly Bands before school. He buys them at Wal-Mart where there are 12 in a package for $1. Then he sells them for 25 cents each. He said the kids know they can buy them cheaper at the store, but then they have a bunch that are the same. This way, they buy just the ones they want. He only takes one package at a time to sell and won’t open another package until the first one is gone. It cracks me up, but he is making pretty good money!
The Artist is in 8th grade. No longer will he be the bottom of the barrel at the junior high! He loves art, singing, and drums. His birthday isn’t until October, but we already gave him his birthday present. We were treasure hunting, a.k.a. driving around looking at garage sales, when we saw a big drum set. I got a killer deal on it, but it was too big to hide in the house. So we had to give it to him. He was so excited. His voice is deep and now he is getting mistaken for his dad AND his older brother.
The Teenager is working like mad to save money. He has a scooter but it’s only 49.5cc and it barely goes 25 mph. He wants to buy a motorcycle, which I am totally fine with. Then he will start saving for a car. He is working at an ice cream/grill shop and does dishwashing and bussing. Yesterday he worked a double shift, so he left the house at 11:30 a.m. and didn’t get home until 12:30 a.m. He is doing the same today and tomorrow. This morning when he got home, I told him I wasn’t going to wake him up to read scriptures with us so he could get more sleep. He said, “No, if I do that, the Lord won’t bless me.” I was so proud of him. He is going to be in 11th grade this year. I think that sounds younger than saying he will be a Junior. I remember being a Junior in high school. Yikes!
I keep telling my children to stop growing up, and yet if they stop growing up, how will I ever get them to leave the house so I can be alone with The Doctor? Because I am really looking forward to that! I guess it’s the season of life I am at. No more babies, just children getting older and preparing to leave the nest. I hope I am doing a good job with them. I don’t have much time.
I am a very organized person. Many times, to a fault.
In the shower, all bottles have to have their labels facing out. I always can tell if The Doctor has used my shampoo or face wash because it’s not put back exactly where I put it. I am obsessed about where things should be put. I know exactly where each thing on my bathroom cupboard goes. And don’t get me started on the fridge. Each shelf has a purpose and leftovers should go on the leftovers shelf, not the shelf for the water bottles! When I put my hair up in electric curlers, I take one from one side, and then one from the other. I have to keep the empty spots even.
So when I had children, it became a daily struggle to let the toys stay on the floor and not constantly be picking up. I had to learn, and I am still learning, that the house can be a little cluttered. Not all the time. The kids never go to bed without picking up and putting away.
The Chocoholic is exactly like me. He is clean and organized. The Teenager and The Princess are somewhere in the middle. They will pick up when I ask them to, but their bedrooms aren’t the cleanest.
The Artist is a COMPLETELY different story. He is so creative and artistic and funny, but he is a slob. That may sound cruel, and I love him very, very much, but that child drives me nuts. He leaves his dirty clothes (and his clean clothes) on the floor, toys on the floor…oh face it, he leaves everything on the floor. Stuff on the dresser and the bed. Stuff everywhere! I send him down to clean his room and he will lay on his bed and play. It is so frustrating.
This week he is gone to Scout camp. From Monday morning until Saturday afternoon. I thought this would be the perfect time to clean his room. And when I say clean, I mean pull everything out and clean and organize. So this morning, I headed down at 10:30.
I finished at 3:00.
Seriously.
I stripped the bed, then started picking up the floor and I just put it all on the bed. I pulled everything out of the closet and organized it. I pulled everything out of the dresser drawers and sorted out the too small clothes and FOLDED (novel concept to him) and put it away. I cleaned out behind the dresser and under the bed and behind the door. Then I went through everything that was on the bed and got it sorted and put away. And thrown away. I filled an entire garbage bag full of garbage and broken toys and old Lego magazines.
When he was packing for camp, I asked him if he needed to do his laundry. He brought up his laundry basket and showed me that it was only 1/3 full. Well, by the time I got done today, the basket was overflowing and it took two washer loads to get it done.
The sad thing is I know it won’t last. Probably not even until the end of next week. Perhaps the chaos is needed in order for him to be creative. He is The Artist, after all.
I love this kid so much. But I will continue to harass him to clean and pick up until the day he moves out. And when he gets married, I will apologize profusely to his wife.
