Through My Child's Eyes

Tomorrow, Mister Man is making his First Holy Communion tomorrow.  Instead of getting ready for the party we're hosting here afterwards, I spent part of this morning going through some of the items that are slotted for the wee ones' memories boxes but haven't yet actually made it into them for some unknown reason (read: my husband hasn't gotten them off the very high shelf where they live).

I found this portrait of me that Mister Man made two years ago when he was in kindergarten.  It was for Mother's Day, and I remember how proud he was to present it to me at the tea held at his school.  We had a lovely afternoon, and all the kindergartners were so sweet.

But it's this portrait that keeps drawing me back.  It's always so interesting to me to see what children see when they look at people on a daily basis.  What is it that they remember and that sticks out to them?

I love that he ensured I had brown, curly hair.  Because at the time, my hair was long and curly.  While I've since cut it - significantly - and typically keep it straight now, this was a good representation.  And it's so like Mister Man to not have it be as long as it should be because he was afraid to color on the shirt because that might be against the rules.

The necklace is also very fitting.  I'm sure there were limited colors available - and I'm also sure that Mister Man chose every single purple bead that he could because he knows that purple is my favorite color.  Given how evenly the shirt is cut, I am certain that the teacher created these and simply handed them to the children, which is why the shirt is yellow.

There were things that surprised me.  I noticed for the first time today that Mister Man drew earrings on me.  I wear earrings every single day.  In fact, my earrings are generally the same ones each day, favorites that go with everything.  Interestingly, the earrings Mister Man drew look nothing like the ones I wear, but how would a six year old know how to draw diamond hoop earrings in Crayola marker?  I don't think I could do that.  Actually, I know I couldn't.  I have zero artistic talent.

And though he added many details - from the eyebrows to pink hearts on my cheeks (I'm guessing that was suggested by the teacher?) to the multitude of eyelashes, the details weren't exactly spot on.  I only wish my eyelashes were that long and thick.  Yet there is one error.  Mister Man gave me green eyes.  My eyes are blue, a very light blue actually.  And that has me thinking.

Do kids not pay attention to eye color on a regular basis?  Is the fact that Mister Man doesn't look in my eyes because of his autism play into the fact that he doesn't know what color my eyes are?  Did he color them green because he has hazel eyes (green is the closest approximation in marker) and wants to be like me?  Or did he just flat out forget?
Either way, this is a portrait I'm keeping.