Christmas was over a month away and I am ashamed to say I have not finished sending out Thank You cards yet. I’ve always found the quicker I get the cards out, the more likely I am to remember who gave me what and not forget anyone. Having a toddler makes things that much more complicated, as I need to be sure and thank everyone for the gifts they gave him as well.

I find it very helpful to make a gift list which includes who gave us what then check off the names as I send out Thank You Cards. Unfortunately my list got lost somewhere along the way this year, so I had to put together a new list which I am not quite sure about.

Since Alex can’t write yet, I assigned him the job of decorating the cards. I cut 8 ½ x 11 sheets of card stock in half then folded each half to make a card. I gave Alex some of the cards with his markers and he decorated a few. Later I laid some out on newsprint and gave him paint and brushes.

Alex loves painting, though he’s not always that great about sticking to painting the paper. I give him washable paints since some paint is guaranteed to get on his clothing. I have rolled up Alex’s sleeves in the past, but find it is more effective to just take his shirt off. When Alex was smaller I had a bib that covered his arms which worked pretty well for painting, but he has since grown out of it. I know you can buy smocks for kids to wear while they paint, and I will probably eventually get one for Alex to wear.

Alex had a lot of fun painting the cards. He’ll paint by himself for a bit, but if I am not sitting with him, eventually he finds a way to get in trouble. He painted one of his Thomas trains while I wasn’t watching this time around. No big deal, I just washed the paint off. When I am painting models I occasionally let Alex paint one too, so painting the train wasn’t much of a stretch.

Once Alex was finished painting, I cleaned him up and put a new shirt on him. Sometimes its easiest just to give the kid a bath after he paints! I had to leave the paint and cards out until it dried and Alex managed to get back into them a couple times before they were dry enough to put away. It really is hard to find places to put things that Alex can’t get into now that he has gotten so good at climbing.

The cards are all ready for me to write in now. There is some paint in the inside, but the relatives and friends who receive them won’t mind. The cards fit nicely into A-2 envelopes.

Alex and most kids love art projects. Inflatable Kingdom offers face painting and arts and crafts as options for birthday parties.

-HL

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