Colorful observation

Yesterday, the boys were coloring and I observed something very interesting. Little O seems to really notice that the coloring pages have outlines of distinct objects, individual parts to color. He's two and a half. He does not stay within the lines, per se, but he clearly tries to color objects on the page as if each is an individual entity.

Big O was never one to color 'within the lines' or to even notice that a coloring page was anything more than a blank canvas. This is something I love to observe when he colors - shear disregard for anyone else's impression of what should be. I embrace it and figure there is no need to interrupt his creativity to explain to him that the generally accepted "norm" is to color within the given lines. Why? Why do we feel so compelled to instruct children to color within the lines? It's not like I did not have the urge in the beginning to suggest he try staying in the lines, but for whatever reason, my intuition told me to stop and think about it before saying anything.

There were times I had to really bite my tongue when I've heard someone make a comment to him, such as "Oh, you almost stayed in the lines" or "That's nice, but next time try to stay in the lines more." Most have been very polite and considerate in their attempts to teach Big O to conform to the conventional coloring page wisdom, which I do appreciate. In return, instead of requesting that the critics keep their coloring restrictions to themselves, I just try distracting Big O by asking him what color he was using or if he wanted some tape to hang up his masterpiece and encouraging him to keep coloring however he likes.

Before today, I sort of figured Big O's coloring style was common among all young children until the 'coloring rules' are explained and the child learns otherwise. But yesterday, Little O's coloring inspired me to wonder a bit more about this.

I'm sure there are lots of ways to analyze this coloring observation and what it might mean or imply about the Os - their personalities, their artistic abilities, their intelligence, who knows what scientists of all sorts might say in this regard? The mother in me overrules the scientist in me on this one - she's cheering them both on and looking forward to watching their artistic sides continue to evolve with as little analysis and interruption as possible.

Happy coloring, boys!