A Kindergarten Art Party and My Trip to the Dark Side

My Reaction to My son’s Independent Approach and What it Taught Me

My son Alex was invited to a birthday party at an art space. It was for a friend of his from pre-school though they were now in Kindergarten at different schools. The group was, nonetheless, mostly kids we all knew. I looked forward to seeing some of the moms and dads and for Alex to see his old crew.

The room was set in the typical birthday party configuration — food on one side and the art project set-up on the other. Presents were to be piled up on the designated table at the entrance.

The kids rolled in by twos and threes. Alex settled in at a table with his friend Leo.

There were arty things set out as ice breakers — pile of beads, LEGO, paper and crayon, clay, and an impossibly long piece of slime. Alex played with some slime, then clay and then moved on to fashioning something with a yellow pipe cleaner and amber beads while chatting with Leo and some of the other kids.

Once it seemed a critical mass was in attendance, the instructors gathered the group, now about 20 kids in total, and proceeded to hand out little red smocks and white, 8x10 canvases to each child. On a projector, a few images of the iconic Jackson Pollock splatter…