Therapeutic Art

I was having such a stressful day yesterday with having to go to a co-worker's birthday party (with baby, who decided to nap right as it was his bath time!), being responsible for picking up the food for this party and lets just be honest, whenever you have to go out with a baby in Chicago's awful winter, it's just plain stressful!

After being out most of the afternoon, we come home and my son decides to become my third leg. He wouldn't let me put him down, was unusually cranky and I was hungry (which is never a good combination).

While looking for something on the dresser, I found this goodie bag my son had received at a birthday part a few weeks ago. On looking inside, I found a coloring book and 4 crayons.

I decided to use this opportunity to show my son how to color. Of course, all he wanted to do was to eat the crayons but we (I) managed to do a pretty decent job.

It was such a wonderful stress reliever. I felt so much better after this little activity, it was amazing. I even felt good enough to make myself some dinner!

I've heard a lot about the therapeutic effects of art and even had done research in one of my Psychology classes in college but never really paid much attention to it. Yesterday's five minute activity has made me a believer.

So next time your children are driving you nuts, gather them together and have a "creativity session". You can color, draw, create. Do whatever your heart desires and I promise you, you will feel better (for five minutes, or until the next argument, whichever comes first!).

Hey, you can't have it all!

What do you do to relieve stress?