Father of the Year

Some days you just need to find new things for your kids to do. A few months ago, I started printing coloring pages off the computer. Basically, you type in whatever character you're looking for and you can usually find free printables. My kids love this, especially my son. Currently, he's really into Pokemon. I can't believe Pokemon is still around, but apparently these critters are alive and well.

Anyway, my son is quite excited by my new discovery and anxious to dive into his Pokemon project. His enthusiasm, however, is quickly dampened when he realizes that he doesn't know the exact color pallet of this particular Pokemon, named Poliwag. You see, my daughter has a very expressive use of color; she paints cows purple, skies pink, and hair green with reckless abandon! My son, on the other hand, must have every detail realistically perfected.

Needless to say, he is utterly distressed that this particular Pokemon is not in his book. Oh, I should mention, that he always keeps reference materials on hand for these such occasions. Obviously, he needs to refer to his guide books for accuracy sake. Anyway, this guy, not in the book, so chaos ensues! Being the brilliant woman that I am, I hop online to find a color image for him to study. Unfortunately, I can't find a color Poliwag image that matches the black & white image, so the creature's tail becomes difficult to recreate. Complicated stuff, right?

By this time, I've officially given up. This project began in the morning, but has taken so many twists and turns that it is now late afternoon. I throw my hands up and say, "Maybe Daddy can figure something out when he gets home." That's usually my fall back when I'm about to go off the deep end. So, when my husband enters the scene he begins to search for a suitable image, but fails miserably.

We've now joined forces and are making suggestions... "Well, if the tail is a problem, let's just cut it off! Who needs it?!"

This idea is no good, because then the paper would no longer be intact. Our son suggests that we cut off the tail, and then reattach another piece of paper, so it is the correct size. I say, "That's nuts!"

I then suggest that we cut the entire image out, because the rest of the blank page is really superfluous anyway. Let's just say, this opinion is not shared. At this point, I am now expecting my husband to throw up his hands in exasperation too. But no… he has to go and have a stroke of genius!

He takes off to the kitchen and cuts out the figure (my idea, remember?). But then, he takes that image and tapes it to a blank piece of paper, creating the perfect sized background. Clearly, I have been outdone! But wait, he takes this madness another step further... He scans the creation through the printer and gets a flawless coloring page! It looks exactly like my printable page, but without that pesky little tail!

My son beams with joy, my husband beams with pride, and I just shake my head. All I can think is, "Are you kidding me?" Along with a little, "That's my man!"