Sidewalk chalk

The problem with competing with children is that sooner or later you have to perform much less than your abilities--i.e. "dumb-down" your abilities--in order to make the child feel successful and give them a stronger sense of self. Well, so much for self. My mother--called "Grammy" by the grandchildren--watched as my niece and nephew drew their own versions of ice cream cones and what-nots on the sidewalk outside my house, gently encouraging them. She said very little about my feverish investments in my chalk drawings, but I was not offended.

For the record, I love chalk drawing. In high school and college I really loved art--not because I felt I had any true Picassoesque talent or anything, but because it was fun. So I totally dig some bonding with the kids when it is chalk time.

But one by one, I started noticing the kids getting bored with the sidewalk chalk. Dallen made an awesome race car--very realistic with its sleek design and auto-detailing. And Victoria made an ice cream cone that ...well, my mother and I say that the side-by-side scoops of ice cream look somewhat more like an anatomy drawing. Overall, they made impressive drawings but they kept saying, "Mine is not as good." Well, little did I know that in my feverish love for chalk-drawing, I had deflated their little egos with MY ice cream cone, MY pumpkin, MY watermelon. "But yours is so good. You're such great artists," my mother would say. But the kids weren't buying it. One by one they went inside. Outside, and still drawing, I told my mother, "I didn't mean for them to go inside. Why doesn't anyone like drawing with me? I'm always by myself by the end." My mother, so wise in her ways, leaned down to me and looks me in the eye and says, "Well, you are the true artist in the bunch." It was meant as a compliment, but I knew that Dallen and Victoria thought there was no point in playing if the outcome was already rigged. I had screwed up. I had not let them win. I had not drawn the stick man riding the stick bicycle, just to make them feel better. No, I had gone full talent, whipped out the monochromatic color wheel on them and left their race car and ice cream cone in the chalk dust. Way to go, winner.