My girl loves to paint. I think I’ve said this before, but she’d roll her whole body in paint if I let her. (New summer activity perhaps?) If I give up my timetable, and my desire for cleanliness, and my pursuit of easy, simple activities, then painting, Liv’s choice, is perfect. Why is it so hard to do that as a mother? To set aside my own interests in order to do something my child absolutely adores?

Friday was a relax-at-home kind of day and painting fit the bill for afternoon entertainment. I opened the craft cupboard and there garage sale picture frames sat, looking all boring in their wood frames. An hour later they were coated in orange, teal and a glorious hodge-podge of colors, the last precisely replicated on Livia’s ten fingers.