#4: Hilarious and sweet kid art

We always tell my daughter that her first word was "pijah." The typical toddler, she said "Mama," "Dada," "oh-oh." But all of a sudden one morning, she pointed to a Degas painting on our wall and exclaimed, "Pijah!" Picture.

No wonder she's such a talented artiste at 6.5-years-old!

No matter how frazzled we are cooking dinner, making lunches, doing laundry, work, putting dishes away..., few things make us stop more than the pictures our kids proudly bring us.

Seeing them put pen/crayon/marker/paint to paper gives us a glimpse into the wonder that is their pure creativity. What follows is a gallery of some of my favourite kinds of kid art.

In their amazing little pictures they "share and care" by helping us with the groceries — if only art reflected life!

Through their art we get glimpses of how they see themselves, and of how they see us (in this case...in bright pink?).

We watch as they try new things on the page, experimenting with new techniques...and hairstyles.

I love that I get to see how my kids really feel about each other spring to life on the page. It would be hard not to enjoy the satisfaction it brings them.

These are scribbles and scratches that we will have forever. Marks on the page from tiny hands in the here-and-now. The present moment captured in a pijah. Such priceless documentation of these tender years....

After displaying them on the fridge for a while, I date my favourites and put them in a special area of my closet for safe keeping.

Sometimes the art they bring us makes us laugh.... This was the chicken-finger phase. What's that on her head?!?

And, ohh.... Sometimes their art makes me howl!

If it's not in my closet, or on our fridge, it's on my cubicle wall at work. So between tasks, I can look at my kids' scribbles, colours and magic, and I feel a little bit like they're with me.