Kids like to draw on the walls. It’s a messy fact of life. And if you clean it, they’ll just do it again. So why clean it?

That is exactly why the patch of wall next to Sebastian’s seat at the dining room table had the beginnings of so many murky scribbles. But he wasn’t old enough to convince us that he wouldn’t do it again. So we left it. At the end of summer, his musings were even accompanied by the slight smattering of tomato sauce. It wasn’t pretty, but what were we to do?

Own it, that’s what.

Jan went away for a weekend in October and I secretly plotted with the kids to camouflage the eyesore. As a surprise for mommy, we would paint the dining room wall in such a way that no one would notice Sebastian’s scribbles and smudges. And if he tagged the wall again, you wouldn’t really notice. Enter Jackson Pollock.

It was fun to do and I think it turned out rather nice. How did Jan react when she returned from her trip? Have a look for yourself:

And so we left it like that. We had been meaning to get a painting for that wall anyway. And if Sebastian ever learns responsibility and/or self-restraint, we may paint over it in a more traditional manner. In the meantime, the wall served as the background for one of my favorite family portraits from this past year: