Way last fall, the PTA at my daughter’s school held a fund raiser which offered parents the opportunity to pay potentially large sums of money to put their child’s art work on a variety of garments, dishes, linens and personal hygiene paper products.

Also, way last fall, The Cakers was bringing home, daily, piles and piles of beautiful ::or not so much:: artwork, which she created in kindergarten or at daycare. Of course, we saved most of this work in a special file folder. ::Funny story*, that. Or not so much..::

So when the opportunity came to showcase some of Cakers' best pieces, via Christmas gifts, we could not resist. After several rounds of catalog perusal and over-mulling,we decided to go with the non-cheesy practicality of coffee mugs.

More difficult than selecting the final product, however, was deciding on the artwork. After several days of ponder, we were able to decide on two pictures, for three mugs.

Unfortunately, Christmas came and went without the mugs. To be honest, we had kind of forgotten about them until they were delivered to our home, yesterday.

Aren’t they cute?



While I really liked the colorful one, the green one with the dog and rain falling like cannon balls is my personal favorite. It makes a strong statement, in that sweet, gentle, we're-gonna-need-a-bigger-umbrella kinda way.




Yesterday my husband put the mugs on display in the kitchen, for when The Cakers came home from school.

Daddy to daughter: “Look what we have! Coffee mugs showing the artwork of our favorite artist.”

“Daaad! You mean your two favorite artists!”

“Two favorite artists?”

“Yeah! I made the flower picture and my friend Macy made the other one. She gave it to me for a present. Remember?”

So wrong on so many levels, the least of which was paying 15 dollars a piece for two mugs bearing the artwork of a child I didn't know from Adam's Cat.

I’m just glad we didn’t have to face this humiliation with in-laws, on Christmas morning.

*Funny Story That
We had some awkward moments adjusting to the new world of kindergarten and the related daily windfalls of newsletters and artwork. To save space and to cut down on clutter, I started tossing the obviously useless pieces the day they were brought home. Not a good idea.

“Mom? Where’s the picture I drew of the Cheddar and the caterpillare, eating poop, while flying in a spaceship to the cottage?”

“I threw it away. I didn’t ….Ididn’t …know what it was that you wanted it. I’m sorry!”

“Mom! I did! I did want it! I want it right now. I miss it. I miss it soooooo much!” She then falls to the floor, wailing and writhing in pain.

Okay. Lesson learned.

Then and there, I decided that this particular drama would not be repeated and that it was nigh time for the girl to take some responsibility for her belongings.

So I developed a new plan, as follows: 1) When Cakers brings home artwork, whatever she wants to keep she must put away in a special cupboard.

2) Once a week, after Cakers is in bed,I will go through the cupboard and throw most of it away.

3) When she asks me what happened to the recently-deceased picture of her kindergarten-teacher-turned-new-adoptive-mother making her pancakes for breakfast, on a spaceship headed to the cottage, I just say “I don’t know honey, what did you do with it?”

I am a trained professional.
Please don't try this at home.

Labels: WTF Wednesday