Kaleidoscope

A few posts ago, I wrote about my three nieces. I watch them one day a week while my sister works. I am thinking of one particular day this summer when it was too hot to play outside. They were getting bored and threatened to plant themselves in front of the television all day. I hate it when they do that because they "zone out" and become like little zombies. Also, the things they watch drive me batty... cartoons certainly have gotten weird since I was little.

I had some coloring books and crayons but they weren't interested. So, I just sat down and started coloring myself. This always has a predictable effect on them; when they see me doing it, they want to do it too. Soon, we were all sitting around the table, coloring together. When we do that, it reminds me of women standing in the kitchen washing dishes (in the old days). It seems that was always when the best conversations got started. It's the same way with coloring together; conversations get started. We share information. They ask questions about life. We surprise each other. We laugh. It's so much better than when they are watching television or playing video games.

This picture is what my youngest niece colored that day. I thought it was so pretty that I framed it. I told her it reminded me of a kaleidoscope. They didn't know what that was, so I explained it to them. It was just one more thing that we shared that day.