Coloring Contest

The Party Planning committee at work (which I am a part of) decided to have a "Back to School" coloring contest. Kids and grandkids of employees could enter in different age groups and Ryan was so excited to participate. He worked really hard at staying in the lines, carefully coloring each pepporoni on the pizza, then the cheese and crust. He got a little impatient at the end but was so proud of his work. For days afterwards, he would say to me, "I just KNOW I'm going to win that coloring contest."  Well, sadly, three-year-old Ryan could not compete with some of the 5-year-olds in his category. I haven't told him yet that he didn't win. The mom in me doesn't want him to be disappointed or sad and 90% of me wants to run out and buy him a prize and tell him he is a winner. The realist in me, though, is fundamentally against making kids think everyone "wins" every time. It's a hard lesson and I hate to make him learn it at 3. My plan is to say that someone else won this time and maybe he will win another time and that 5-year-olds have a lot more practice at coloring and practice is what makes us get better. Wish me luck!

Here are all the kid entries, plus the 20's, 40's, and 50's division (yes, we had adult employees compete as well). Ryan's is the third one down in the middle of the left board (blue grass). The winner of his division is in the top left corner.

I ended up winning the 30's division, mostly because I drew a bunch of extra desert animals wearing our competitor's hats in the bottom. You know me...more is more when it comes to coloring (and words).  I was very happy with my $5 gift card, pack of markers, and magnetic shopping list.