Lately I have been playing around with the look and the feel of this blog. I have been trying new things. I changed my logo (if one can call it that), and I started making graphics and posting them on the Tenor Dad Facebook page, mostly because it was fun and that’s why I do this in the first place. Two nights ago, I decided to act on a suggestion that my wife had made some time ago, which was to create a cartoony graphic that would sort of sum up “Tenordaddedness.”
Her idea was to have a drawing of me singing, with the children sort of hanging off of me, and since I have no pride or confidence in my own drawing abilities I quickly tried to find someone else to do this for me But my friends were also self-deprecating in the art department, or asked me for photos to base the drawing off of which I never dug up because I am lazy and forgetful, so the weeks passed by and I never got around to this idea.
And then, and I couldn’t tell you why (nor could I tell you why I do most of the things that I do), I decided to draw it myself anyway. And my wife said it was cute. So I scanned it and posted it. And threw my “logo” in the corner, and it looks like this:
Yesterday morning, as I was admiring it, my children happened to sit down to breakfast and immediately recognized that it was a drawing of us. This gave me a great self esteem boost in the art department, but also made me worried that I was sending the wrong message to them. I didn’t want them to think that they were a bother, or that they were keeping me from singing, even if those things were sometimes true. Suddenly I felt like I had been gossiping behind their backs.
Of course Edward didn’t care. He just liked that he was riding on my foot. Ruby had more to say though. And the conversation went something like this:
Ruby: “Daddy, look! A picture of us!”
Me: “Yes. I know. I drew it.”
Ruby: “Edward, look! Daddy drew a picture of us!”
Edward: “I want to eat Apple Jacks.”
Ruby: “Look, Edward. You are on Daddy’s foot.”
Edward: “I’m on Daddy’s foot?” (crazed laughter)
Me: “So, do you like the picture?”
Ruby: “Yes. Why isn’t Mama in the picture?”
Me: “Uhhhhhh……. She’s at work.”
Ruby: “If she’s at work, why are you all dressed up and singing in the daytime?”
Me: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…….. I must be at a rehearsal…”
Ruby: “If you’re at a rehearsal, why is Edward riding on your foot?”
Me: “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……..”
Ruby: “And why am I trying to get you to stop singing so I can play Super Mario Galaxy?”
Me: “I don’t know.”
Ruby: “Can I play Mario after breakfast?”
So luckily my children were not traumatized by the drawing, and we had a wonderful morning full of Apple Jacks and Nintendo. But man, if I ever need someone to look over my work for errors or inconsistencies, I know who to turn to. I think that girl has a future in editing…
Seriously! Continuity, authenticity… I was just going to tell you that your new design elements have not gone unnoticed and kudos! But clearly I did not notice as much as SOME.