not quite picture perfect

the transformation from guest room to playroom is now complete.  the walls are painted a sunny yellow, the valance has been shortened and installed, the beds and dresser are out, and the basketball goal and pretend kitchen and air hockey table and dollhouse are in.  (we work hard to ensure that our house is fully bi-partisan in terms of boy and girl toys.)  we didn't gain any square footage in the transition, but we did gain extra wall space, which has proved a bit of a challenge.  each child has their own big corkboard, filled with party invitations and sketches and nametags and stickers, on their own wall of this new playroom, and the third wall has some framed professional art.  but the fourth wall -- the one that faces you as you enter the room -- is bare.

and then i had a brilliant idea.  in the move, i came across two adorable self-portraits the kids made while in their four-year old classes in preschool.  they were roughly the same size with complementary colors, and were just so quintessentially them -- in other words, they were perfect for the blank wall.  i bought a couple of big frames at a local art supply store and came home on sunday afternoon so excited to get started.  "look at what i'm going to do with your beautiful artwork!" i shared with the kids, ushering them into the kitchen where i had set up shop.  "i'm going to frame the portraits you painted of yourselves and hang them side-by-side in the playroom!  isn't that awesome?"

silence.  they just stared at me, with confused looks on their faces, as if i were speaking some foreign language. 

so i explained further.  "see, i'm going to take this painting of susanna, and put this pretty mat behind it, and put it in this white frame.  and then i'll do the same thing with liam's.  and everyone who walks into the playroom will see them and will be amazed at what great artists you are!"

but no clapping or praise or even thumbs up followed.  instead, they informed me, at the same time, that the self-portraits i held in my hand were actually not self-portraits at all.  "those are paintings of YOU, mommy," they said.  "we made them for mother's day.  remember?"

oh.  right.

a good mother would have apologized for her mistake, thanked them again profusely for their wonderful gifts, and moved on.  but i just couldn't let it go.  i mean, my idea was so perfect!  and those paintings really could be of the kids themselves -- susanna looks just like me, and liam's was abstract enough that it could easily be a painting of him.  (isn't that what you thought when you saw the picture at the beginning of the post?)  so i told him as much.

"oh don't be silly, mommy," he replied, hardly even giving such a preposterous idea a second thought.  "those are bracelets on your arm -- see?  i don't wear bracelets.  so it's definitely not me."

shot down, by my two budding artists.  but i just refuse to give it up.  so i'm thinking ... maybe if i just frame and hang them anyway, people can arrive at their own conclusions, and maybe will just assume that they are adorable self-renderings by two four-year old blond-haired, blue-eyed children.  the fact that their mother also has blond hair and blue eyes is just a mere coincidence, right?

right?