art

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Dear Jack: Your “Dually Relieving” Animals Artwork

5 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack: Your “Dually Relieving” Animals Artwork

Dear Jack,

Monday afternoon when I picked you up from Pre-K, you asked me to help you get all your artwork from that day out of your folder. It was quite a stack of papers; probably at least 20 different pictures you had drawn there.

Right away, I noticed a peculiar, yet subtle piece of art. You had drawn a dog standing near an anthill.

Near the anthill was a sign that read “Boo” backwards. There were ants and spiders nearby as well.

As I examined the dog carefully, I noticed that as he smiled, he was also “dually relieving” himself.

To be clear, the dog was both “going #1 and #2” at the same time.

I verified what I was seeing, and you quickly admitted what was going on in the picture.

However, you weren’t laughing about it. You kept a straight face, as if to say, “What’s funny about this? This is art. It’s nature.”

I followed up by asking if either your friends or your teacher had seen the picture. They had not.

As soon as we got home, Mommy hung your picture up on the refrigerator.

To my surprise, the next day when I picked you up, déjà vu occurred as I saw a very similar picture; this time with a cat.

Dear Jack: Your “Dually Relieving” Animals Artwork

This time you smiled: “I made this picture for Mommy!”

We are indeed very proud of your artwork, as were many people on Facebook who saw the pictures as well.

Now that I look back on it, this wasn’t the first time you drew a “dually relieving itself” animal as artwork.

The weekend before the 2015 CMA Awards, a couple of months ago, our family met our friends Mohamed and Lena at the Cool Springs Whole Foods (in Franklin, TN) for a late lunch, around 2:00 PM.

As we were sitting down at the table with our food, Mohamed showed me a picture of both Jessica Biel (Justin Timberlake’s wife) with her baby, as well as Justin Timberlake’s mother.

Then Mohamed pointed over to just a tables away, asking us to verify that the people at the table were indeed the same as the ones he had pulled up on his phone.

Turns out, he was right.

Apparently, Justin Timberlake’s wife, son, and mother were having lunch while Justin was assumedly preparing for his appearance at the CMA Awards; where he would go on to do an instantly legendary performance with Chris Stapleton.

All of that was lost on you. I looked down to see you had just finished drawing a picture of an animal dually relieving itself.

Fast forward to this week: You decided to bring back the concept.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: What Is That Animal In Your Drawing Doing?

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack: What Is That Animal In Your Drawing Doing?

Dear Jack,

I am always excited to see what new creative artwork you have for me each day when I pick you up from school.

On Friday, right before we headed over to the circus, one of your drawings particularly caught my attention. You immediately began explaining it to me:

“Daddy, see- he’s got giraffe legs, a cow body, a robot neck, an elephant tale, and a bear head!”

Sure, I was slightly confused by the robot neck, but I had to ask you right away about the one part of picture you failed to describe:

“Jack, what is that animal in your drawing doing?”

Your unapologetic answer was somewhat understated:

“Oh, I did a brown arrow… to point at the poop… because he had a big poop.”

Classic.

Somehow in all your hundreds of pictures you’ve drawn, you’ve never drawn anything with potty humor before.

But that’s the thing; I’m not convinced you were trying to be funny. Your main focus was to point out how you cleverly designed a sort of Frankenstein-style animal.

Dear Jack: What Is That Animal In Your Drawing Doing?

You really do put so much thought into your artwork. Today you brought home 4 new pictures; one of them featuring a charming snowman. You explained to me the full story:

“Daddy, the sun is mad at the snowman because the snowman said he wanted the moon to come out instead that way the snowman won’t melt, so the sun turned purple because he was mad.”

Wow. Seriously. You are one creative little boy.

I am already imagining just a few years from now how your pictures will be evolving into full stories; where you will do like I did when I was a boy and make my own books; writing all the words and drawing all the pictures for your own homemade books.

That is going to be a lot of fun!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Your Drawing Of A Freak Wearing A Backpack

3 years, 10 months.

Your Drawing Of A Freak Wearing A Backpack

Dear Jack,

This past weekend on our fall road trip from Nashville to Asheville, as we reviewed the 4G capabilities of the 2015 Buick LaCrosse, you passed some of the time by drawing pictures in the back seat with Mommy.

I was focused on the road, but peripherally I heard you say, “Look Mommy, I drew a picture of a freak… wearing a backpack!”

Sure enough, you did.

Your picture of the “freak wearing a backpack” actually reminded me of those creatures from Spy Vs. Spy in Mad magazine; or the Yoyo the dodo bird from Looney Tunes.

Mommy and I questioned you on where you heard the word “freak.” We assumed you heard it at school or even by watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants in the hotel when you first woke up.

You told us you just made up the word. I believe you. It’s not the first time you’ve made up a word; it’s just that this particular word actually made sense in context.

 

When I asked you what a freak is, you casually responded, “It’s just a kind of monster, Daddy.”

White Spy Black Spy

Fair enough. Makes sense to me. And though I’m not sure what the significance is in him wearing a backpack, but I like it.

I adore your art. You should know that by the fact I’ve got a folder named “Jack’s Art” on the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

And your Freak Wearing A Backpack is a prime example of why I appreciate what you do.

I love the way you are so specific to whatever you are creating, with such passion and concern, and that your art projects are typically something so randomly themed.

Freak Wearing A Backpack almost sounds like it could easily be the name of an actual work of art on display in a museum in New York City or something.

Yoyo Dodo_(1)

The “freak” is wearing a backpack. I’m just taking that in right now.

That’s awesome.

Love,

Daddy

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These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear (And Funny Drawings Of Anteaters!)

3 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

I just want to bookmark which stage of childhood you are in right now. These are the days of you dressing your stuffed animals in your own “big boy underwear.”

It would be one thing if these specially dressed animals stayed indoors where only Mommy and I knew about them.

But… nope.

Each morning you choose an underwear-wearing stuffed animal to ride in the car with you on the ride to school. Then the privileged creature gets to be placed in your cubby all day while you learn.

At the end of each school day, with much pride, you remove your animal from the cubby for the ride home.

Let me just say it again:

Your animals are wearing your own underwear. And you are the one who picks out which pair of your underwear they wear, then you put the underwear on them.

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

That’s hilarious!

But part of what makes this so funny is that you don’t appear to be trying to be funny or ironic, in the least bit.

It’s as if you are treating Ellie (your much worn-out purple elephant) and Pandy (your panda bear, who like Ellie, is also a $5 Kohl’s purchase from the check-out counter) as peers who are legitimately encountering the transition to “big boy underwear” as you are.

I don’t know how many other 4 year-old boys in America are doing the same thing right now, but I know that I did the same thing was I was about your age.

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

Something else you’re doing these days that I feel is definitely defining you is your funny and creative drawings you do at school each day.

I think I might need to start up a special folder to start saving them in the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog in a photo album simply called “Jack’s Art.”

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

As for now, I’ll leave you with my current personal favorite; this picture you drew of “an anteater that ate a monster.”

Love,

Daddy

These Are The Days Of Stuffed Animals Wearing Underwear

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Standing On The Shoulders Of “Baby Giants”

June 8, 2014 at 1:41 pm , by