Since it's summer break and I'm a teacher I thought I would be able to get a lot of painting done. Not so! If I try to work while she's awake, she comes straight to my table with a big smile on her face and begs for me to pick her up. I can't say no for two reasons; firstly how can anyone say no to someone so cute and secondly she shakes the table violently until I do. Even when I'm not there she sometimes wants to play with them.
She has learned about how to stand on her tippy-toes thanks to Warhammer since that's the only way she can reach what's on the table. The learning begins already! I have my own desk in the back room but there's better light on kitchen table, plus I don't like feeling isolated from the family while I paint, and also I have no room to work on my desk since it is covered in bitz and half-sawed apart models. This exposes me to the curiosity of my child.
While she's up on my lap she loves to rearrange all of my paints. She picks them up one at a time, looks at it and then sets it down. She does the same for the models but she has a crushing grip so I move those out of her reach. She can surprise me though and strikes like a cobra to grab models that I thought were out of her reach. I have to handle these hostage situations delicately, if I try to take it away she reacts by biting the object she's holding and crushing with her vice-like hands.
She probably knows that there's stuff inside the paint bottles, but she hasn't been able to open them. I have trouble opening them too, especially the Citadel Washes. I must remember to thank GW for the built-in childproofing.
Hopefully this fascination continues years down the road and I can play some games with her. Games like Warhammer, Magic and D&D can bolster math, reading and critical thinking skills. Furthermore, it will be a fun activity that we can share together. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pry a Terminator out of her hands.
PS: Don't forget to call Papa Nurgle today!
My Daughter is 12 now and loves to paint the models... couldn't care less about the game or any of the rules.
ReplyDeleteJust wants to paint.
I had a nice phase around christmas which allowed me to get a good amount of work done. My daughter was just getting into a good independent play phase so she could be in the family room playing while I watched her and worked on minis on the kitchen island.
ReplyDeleteThen she figured out that I was doing something fun so now I can only get work done after bed time. Currently I play with some dice with her and she really likes the GW measuring sticks. She also likes the models but always wonders why the marine sergeant does not have a hat like everyone else.
My son is 16 months and shows a similar reaction to things. He can reach up on the table meanwhile- so its cleaning up and hiding stuff after working on them every night.
ReplyDeleteSee, now you can use this as an excuse to acquire more 40k. I KNEW kids were good for something...
ReplyDeleteThat aside, kids are a hell of a lot smarter than anyone wants to give 'em credit for. I've never seen anyone that good at getting into things.