Bathroom Graffiti

It was a(nother) rainy day and Gaby was bored.  He had the bathroom and Mommy's makeup to himself.  One person's paraphernalia is another's drawing instruments.

I saw what looked like a drawing on the !*&! pedestal curtain.

Oh. My. Gosh. It looks like lipstick.

I checked my lipstick.  Gaby -- I knew immediately who to blame -- had used my favorite lipstick for his drawings.  Oh, but there was another drawing on the shower wall.  This I didn't take pictures of because by now I realized he had used my mascara and eye shadow for that piece of artwork.  He also decorated Jojo's hair with my hairspray.

My initial wave of anger slowly gave way to curiosity about those pictures.  Who are those people, Gaby?  That's me and Jojo, and that's Christian over there.  Are you and Jojo hugging?  No, we're not hugging! We're walking together.

I texted the evidence to Mike and, of course, he laughed and commented, "At least they're happy pictures."

And they are!  Look at the hearts, the whimsical drawings.  They are indeed happy depictions of his feelings, perhaps.  Or of his love for his brothers -- I'm getting carried away now. 

I was reminded of Randy Pausch. I never met him, but he was the type of person I would've liked to have known, and I know I would've learned much from him.  He gave his last lecture four years ago at Carnegie Mellon University, and I always remember this:  a photograph of his childhood room. His parents let him draw and paint on the walls of his room.  Two paintings that struck me were of an elevator door and a secret passage to Venus. Here's a video of his sister showing Randy's room.

In Randy's last lecture, his childlike demeanor and wonderment come through as he talks about his dreams.  And what dreams this Ph.D. had, many of which he achieved.  The heartwarming talk can be seen here.

Gaby doesn't take himself too seriously and I am glad that he and his brothers don't -- this in an age where we're supposed to be uptight, education fussbuckets because that is what is valued more than anything. I want them to value learning, yes, but also beauty, friendship, and dreams. Dreams are worthwhile, and that's what Randy teaches.  It's the journey of reaching our goals that is the most important part of learning, not just learning for the sake of a degree or Ph. D.  Watching the movie 'Rudy' the other night reminded me of this, too.  Rudy was on the mediocre end of the spectrum in comparison to Randy's natural academic abilities. And Rudy met lots of brick walls, which, Randy says, are there for a reason. Both had dreams that were probably not within the realm of their natural abilities, but their determination led them to places they never believed they could get and inspired countless others.  But I digress.

Gaby's a pretty smart kid, but he is also imaginative, creative, oh so funny and, at times, frustrating.  After I got over my anger and asked him about the drawings, I praised his work and reminded him to ask for paper, crayons, watercolors -- whatever -- when he decides to work on his next project.