paint cut paste

in the autumn of 2007, N began to speak. at 7 months old, she said dada, then cat, then mama (yeah, i ranked after the cats) then bye bye. several weeks later, within her first set of 15-20 words spoken was the word YETI! we have this great book called tibetan tales for little buddhas and in it there is a story of a monk who, despite his fear, helps a yeti get a splinter out of his foot, and the yeti is kind to him in return. for some odd reason, we began to read this book to N when she was teeny tiny, and she reeeally was fascinated by the yeti, and had a deep grumbly voice reserved just for when she growled “yeetiiii” even at just 10 months old.

the yeti from the book is apparently being nice here and giving fur to the monk to keep him warm

in december 2008, N saw rudolph the red-nosed reindeer claymation cartoon for the first time. to this day, she will have you know that the story is really about the “abominable snow monster” and not so much about some misfit reindeer.

the abominable snow monster in rudolph

sometimes people are confused about yetis… i understand them to be the same as bigfoot or an abominable snowman. either way, N has always been obsessed.

this month, N has taken to doing some great yeti art (after being re-inspired by seeing rudolph again) which i wanted to share here:

brown furry yeti

yellow yeti, who i adore

"this yeti is running to his birthday party"

there were five other yetis of different colors, two of whom were “carrying cakes to the aqua yeti’s birthday party.”

i also got into the yeti art this year, and created this little felt yeti for N’s holiday stocking. hee hee.

momma-made felt yeti

also, we ordered these “yeti for bed” pajamas for her for christmas! love them!

from chasing fireflies

so i suppose this isn’t an art activity-with-your-toddler sort of post, but my reason for sharing it is to say that whatever whim or seemingly random fixation your child may have, support them in exploring it to the fullest! you never know what deeper meaning is beneath it for them. additionally, for a figure such as a yeti, which can often be seen as scary or dark, it is important to stand with your child and walk them through these curiosities – together – rather than abolish their interest in it completely. each of us holds light and dark within us. if these golden opportunities arise, go into and through these darker places with your kids, as there is wisdom there to be gleaned. this goes for nightmares, as well. learn more… try not to abolish the “bad” but to move through it and get curious about it. art has the power to hold these seemingly negative energies and to allow your child to befriend them. little ones can create the image, control the image, manipulate the image, dialog with the image, and ultimately gain mastery over it — how empowering! all of our children will certainly will face darkness in their lives in some way, so why not give them tools by using safe metaphors, like the beloved yeti, when they pop up?

thank you, sweet yeti, for your gifts.

Related posts:

1. true to life
2. mirroring & attunement
3. dialog drawing