Last Sunday it was bitter cold here. We’re talking teens (if that) for high temperature without the wind chill factored in. We had signed NHL up that morning at 10:00 for a monthly free craft and story time at our temple for 3-5 year olds. Each time they focus on a holiday and read a book and do a craft related to it.  Thanks to the cold I opted to stay home with JSL and let NHL and Daddy have a morning out together.

This month they did things about Tu B’Shvat. They listened to the Lorax by Dr. Seuss. After this it was time to decorate pots to plant some seeds in.

When they arrived home JL was telling me about the craft. I was floored with what they brought for the 3-5 year olds to use. I have no issue with markers (even regular non-washable ones), glue, paint. . . they can be messy, but are appropriate for children. They used Sharpie markers for the kids. What the heck were they thinking? Sure, they thought ahead and brought shirts for the kids to put on to protect clothing, but HELLO? I teach my child that those are not for him to use. I was pretty pissed annoyed.

I understand that only certain items will work on clay pots, but still there are more kid friendly art supplies. When NHL came home he was upset that his hands were colored with the Sharpie. He said his one finger hurt because they were . . . (ready for my literal child) sharp!

LOL – I was trying very hard not to laugh right in his face. I was good. I told him to meet me in the bathroom and I would remove the sharpie with some magical stuff that Mommy had. I put some non-acetone nailpolish remover on q-tips and went to work. He was very protective of one finger that was hurt from the sharp spot. When I went to that finger the thin line did not budge. In fact what I received was screams of bloody murder in my ear. So what did I do? I tried it again.

Hmmmm. . . . something was wrong here and I needed light to check it out. We went into the other room and got a flashlight. Time for Mommy to see what the deal was. Sure enough it was not Sharpie – it was a splinter. Flashbacks of the HUGE splinter in his buttocks haunted me. JL was home to help me wrangle the kid and I got it with a struggle. That thing was in there more than the one last time. Thank goodness since digging into his butt would have been tricky at school.

JL took his camera with him (of course) to show what the kids were doing during craft time. Here they are. Please note my captions if you hoover over them.

Here is NHL using a Sharpie for the first time: 

He certainly had a fondness for one of the colors! 

As you can see a lot of the things were fine for 3-5 year olds to use: 

 This yet again was not one of those acceptable items.

This is the inside of the pot when NHL was finished with his seeds to grow inside. 

On the top rim NHL put his name and JSL’s – too cute! And of course he had a blast using the Sharpies. 

We shall see what they do next month – most likely they will do something for Purim. . . I think.