Paint the Room

Lainey's class had a "paint the room" day at school. This is something that her teachers do every single year in their classroom. Let me just say that her sweet teachers are much braver than I am. Just one child covered in paint scares me - I can't imagine seeing nine little 2-year-olds wearing paint from head to toe! When the kids arrive at school, the floor is already covered with paper. Then, the teachers take off each child's clothes (except for his or her diaper) and put a big t-shirt on each child to serve as a smock. After everyone is dressed and ready to paint, the kids just go at it with the paints for about an hour and a half. They paint themselves, the floors, each other, and their teachers. Then the teachers wash the paint off of each child in the sink in their classroom. (I would imagine this takes awhile, but each kid does end up pretty clean!) And finally, after all the mess is cleaned and put away, the day continues as normal...recess, lunch, nap, and then it's time to go home.

One of Lainey's sweet teachers, Ms. Jean, sent me this picture of our messy toddler painting her feet. Ms. Jean said that Lainey had a wonderful time, and I think this picture shows that. When I picked Lainey up from school, the only paint left on her body was smeared inside her ears. I'm sure the teachers didn't even want to attempt to take on that cleaning task! Let me just say that I've been cleaning this green paint out of her ears all afternoon. I think she might have stuck the end of a paintbrush completely inside her right ear, like one might do with a Q-tip. I'm going to start giving her ear drops just in case an infection thinks about developing... :) I'm so glad that Lainey had fun "painting the room." Her teachers are amazing and truly love seeing the kids happy and engaged!