Of Paintings and Dreams

Backdate 10th September 2013

If you had some time to spare after finishing work early, would you
a) Go shopping or,
b) Go home to face the kids and their noisy ruckus.

The answer is pretty obvious for me.

Many things change upon the status 'upgrade' into Motherhood. To name a few, we have much more added responsibilities, baby bags filled with diapers and milk feeds, ugly stretch marks, no more late night outs, no more pack-up-and-go holidays and our mindset. Especially mindset.

Once upon a time not too long ago, my preferred choice for time after work was to spend it with friends. I could go clubbing, la-kopi, shopping or just hang out. Anything EXCEPT going home early. In my previous self-centric opinion, going home early was deemed a 'waste' of time. So why the change in mindset? Somehow, somewhere along the road of motherhood, maternal instincts kicked into high gear and things just went from there. Once those instincts kicked in, many activities that I once enjoyed didn't sound as liberating and enticing as it once had.

The idea of clubbing late into the night didn't sound as 'happening' anymore.Downing cups of coffee and then staying awake because of the caffeine kick would be most un-enticing. We should know that kids are energy draining little people and I would need ALL the sleep that I can have in order to function the next day.

The lure of shopping doesn't sound as irresistible as before. A new dress can wait, because there at home, is a little someone missing you and awaiting your return.

Somehow, spending time alone and without the kids just didn't feel right anymore. I do advocate for me-time, but times are best when spent with them, sharing cuddles and giggles. 

So I went back home, to my kids and to the ruckus. Today, I wanted to surprise them with a new activity - Painting!  (At least from my point of view. They have probably had painting activities a gazillion times at school already.) Armed with a new set of paint, brushes and palette, we embarked on a messy journey of colors, spilt water and smudged hands and feet.While Lauren was enthusiastically exploring finger-painting with splots of blue (her favorite color at the moment), Sean was more purposeful in his artwork. He wanted to paint a picture of a tree in the field with a bright yellow sun in the sky, and a rainbow.

I only assisted a little when he got slightly frustrated because his colors kept mixing and he couldn't get the color effect that he wanted for the sun (hence the sun with a dirty tinge), but that was all I did. I can't describe how proud I am of him in the improvements that he has shown. Being fixated with cars since he was young, all that he drew previously only consisted of, well, cars. He drew big cars, little cars, police cars, cars with six wheels, cars with four wheels, cars with spoilers, cars with blue colored turbo emitting from the exhaust, and the list goes on.

Over the time, he has progressed to drawing pictures of buildings and planes, police badges and people (bad men and policemen), to painting pictures of fields and trees. And this time, there wasn't a single car around to 'kill the scenery'. How far he has moved!

While I am sure they had fun with the activity, I would not know what hobby they will pursue eventually, or if they will even pick up painting when they get older. My wish for them will be that they will have the courage and passion to pursue their dreams and the ambition to make it into a reality. 

In turn, I hope that I can be supporting them from the sides, in whatever way I can be, in whatever pursuits that they may choose. And more so that I will not fall in with the stereotypical-mindset that certain preferred hobbies are more practical than others, thus pushing them into doing something that they do not enjoy. 

So, dream your dreams my little ones. Imagine touching the stars and the rainbows in the sky, and we shall pursue those dreams together.♥

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