My Son, the Artist

One major benefit of putting kids in unconventional schools isn’t what they are not made to do but what they make out of the kids. I’ve realized this truth when I decided to put my kid in a slightly unconventional school where the kids don’t have to wear uniforms, shoes, don’t have to face examinations until higher classes and so on. Of course, they need books and I have to pay fees. Sometimes I think I might have made a mistake putting him in such a school and affecting his future. But after finding that he goes to school without any fuss and doesn’t ever talk of skipping school, and is in fact happy to be in the school, I felt that maybe it was a right decision after all. I think it isn’t an entirely wrong decision after I noticed that he was becoming good at something that I hadn’t even dreamed of.

Somewhere in the third standard or so his teachers started appreciating his drawings. He would sit at home making drawings of cartoon characters that he sees on television all the time but I did not realize he was actually good at drawing. Now every time they need someone to draw something for a project, he is given the task. Understandably, he is rather proud of it especially when the teachers write on his reports that he is good at drawing. He also won a few prizes in drawing contests which convinced me that this talent emerged because of the school atmosphere. He makes his own toys out of paper and cardboard


I’ve started collecting all his drawings of Spiderman, Superman, deities, jet fighters, racing cars, Ben Ten characters, Pokemon and so on. But what I cherish are the birthday cards he makes for me every year without fail. He begins two or three days in advance taking care I don’t see him doing it. I’ve saved all the cards he made for me since he started drawing. Somewhere in the drawings above that he made on the computer one is of his proud papa.