Little Picasso Paranoia...

After watching Thomas the Train one afternoon, Matt became restless. I suggested going to ride bikes at the park. "No mama," he annoyingly responded. "I want to paint."

Being an enthusiast of raising smart, artistic beings, I obliged and got out some brushes, paint and paper. I started to spread the supplies out onto the kitchen table when Matt started in. "I don't want to paint on this paper, Mama. I want to paint on the walls." I shrieked at first but then immediately corrected my response and tried to play it cool."No silly, we can paint on this paper and then I can hang it on the wall."

But he insisted. "No. I want to paint on the walls... all of them. Especially the walls in my room." We ended up painting on paper but I freaked out every time I saw him inching towards a wall or window with a paintbrush filled with gloppy green paint in his hand.

So despite my efforts to be a mellow, laid back kind of mom, that extra set of eyeballs I warn about are planted firmly in the back of my head.