Marker Magic

Last night Jeff and I were both taking a time out to indulge in a little FB time.  I was in the living room on my mini laptop, and Jeff was sitting at the desktop.  Luke has gotten really good at playing by himself, so we were both enjoying a little much-needed "me" time. 

Suddenly I heard a "Brandi, come here!" from the other room.  I ran to the office, and here's what I saw:

And then I saw this:

And this:

Holy marker, Batman!

First, let me just say, for my own self-satisfaction, and with absolutely no blame whatsoever (really!), that Jeff was five feet away when this happened.  There are so many times when something goes awry, and I get an earful of "How could you let this happen?"  I just sort of want to put this on record, you know?  Just kidding, Jeff!

Anyway, of course, my immediate reaction, after grabbing the camera, was "How beautiful!  Look at those brush strokes!  He's practicing his pre-writing, which means he's going to grow up to love writing and English class!" 

Then it hit me that I was going to have to clean it up.  And it also hit me that I'd either have to (A) make a trip to the Monarch paint store and end up buying a gallon of David Weekley high-gloss paint (since it only comes in gallons--I've checked) for this one little area or (B) repaint all the trim and crown molding in the house to satisfy my own OCD.  We'll be by the Monarch store tomorrow for story time, anyway.  Plus, I'm sure this won't be the last time I need the paint.  AND, it would really crush my ego to repaint all the trim (even though I secretly want to!) and then have Luke present more inappropriate artwork. 

So the big question is, did I ever get mad?  Nope, surprisingly I didn't.  And Jeff still ended up turning it all back on me ("I thought I told you to get rid of all the markers in the whole house, lock up all the drawers, spank him, and never, ever, ever let him out of your sight.  Oh, and it's your fault for letting him out of your womb in the first place.").  Whatever.  I tried to get down on Luke's level and imagine the difference between a washable marker/sheet of copy paper and a fine point Sharpie/glossy window sill.  They both seem like good writing surfaces to me.

Now the campaign must begin.  I must convince Luke that some artistic mediums are good, and some are bad.  After I lock up the markers.