I helped out at Fington's pre-school this week and while I was there Little Girl painted a lovely painting. Well it was some splats of paint on a bit of paper. And she painted the easel, and her hands and face too. We put the painting to one side to dry and I made a note to take it with us when we left.
Home time came and I walked over to the table of children's artwork (aka paint splatters). In front of me was a mum with her son aged around 4, "Did you paint a picture darling?" she said to him. No answer. I moved in to pick up Little Girl's masterpiece but the boy picked it up before I could get there. "You painted that did you darling?" The little boy nodded. I was just about to interject and point out he had my daughter's painting in his hands when the mum heaped such gushing praise on him I was stopped in my tracks.
"Oh you clever boy! What a lovely picture! I'm so proud of you!" He got a kiss and a hug and my 1 year old daughter's painting was then shown to a relative / friend who also heaped praise and hugs upon the boy who hadn't painted it at all.
After all this gushing it didn't seem right for me to say, "Actually my toddler knocked that one up earlier, can I have it back please?" It somehow seemed harsh to spoil their genuine joy and pride. A family caught in a moment of unbridled happiness and I couldn't bring myself to ruin it.
After all, Little Girl hadn't really remembered she'd painted the picture. She had no attachment to it. Maybe it was okay to donate it to the family who would probably go home and proudly show it to daddy, put it on the wall and treasure it forever more? I can imagine the mother finding it in thirty years time and showing it to her son saying, "I remember the day you painted this darling. You were four years old, look how advanced your paintings were at that age. How come you never showed any interest in painting again?"
Husband wasn't entirely supportive of my picture donation, "What? You just let them have it? That was her picture!"
So was I right or was I wrong? Should I have snatched the painting back and burst their bubble? Or let them believe their son had artistic abilities? (albeit of a 1 year old's standard).
Intense Debate Comments
