Life Solutions

Having a little artist in the house results in lots of used pieces of paper.  Pieces of paper that need to go somewhere.  The artist informs me that the recycling bin, my paper receptacle of choice, is not a viable option, so we've had stacks of masterpieces forming on top of the refrigerator, on the kitchen counter, and in one of Asher's dresser drawers.  Since clutter and I don't exactly get along, this had to change.  So, last week Asher and I headed to the craft store and picked up a couple of coat hooks, some clothespins, some twine, and red paint and created this:

I told Asher that he could keep as many works of art as he could pin up on his string, and that the rest needed to be recycled.  It didn't take him long to discover that he could hang multiple pieces of paper up with the same clothespin, stacked in front of each other.  And that's fine with me, so long as there are no pieces of paper cluttering up my kitchen.

My favorite work in Asher's hanging gallery is this one:

It's a picture of a snowman with "Moman" written underneath.  When Asher showed me this finished creation, I asked if he had written "snowman" on it.  He said that no, he had written "moman" because it was a picture for Simon and that is how Simon says snowman.  And, sure enough, when Asher showed the picture to Simon, Simon declared, "Moman!"

While we're on the subject of solving problems, here is how I solved the issue of cold post-bath burritos:

Bath robes!  (made from this pattern)  I think they're good for keeping wet kids warm.  The boys think they're good for other things too, like taking a catnap,

playing cars with your slippers,

and fighting over whether the door should be open or closed (a frequent quarrel at our house, since Simon thinks that all doors should be shut and Asher thinks they should all remain open).

Solving problems feels so good.