"Hey Dad, I got some Art Supplies today!"

Girl 1

How many times have you bought little art supply kits for your kids over the years? Remember how cool they were to get as a kid — all those crayons and colored pencils lined up next to each other, paintbrushes, sometimes pastels (always more fun to look at than actually use). I remember my school supplies box — a small bottle of paste, popsicle sticks, bad scissors, crayons. Fun to organize at the start of the year, junk drawer by Friday. The masterpieces it produced? A handprint turkey. Popsicle sticks glued into a beautiful but completely dysfunctional fan.

So when McKenna told me she bought some art supplies — sure, why not. First week of summer, rehabbing a torn ACL, time to kill. I was expecting maybe some bunnies, kittens or little puppies that she is always squealing about.

Girl 1

I find her new sketchbook on the computer desk. I can never resist....(which she knows)....and so I open it and there is "Girl 1". I look and wonder — "Really? McKenna did this?"

Just then she walks in. I am like, "Woah, this is really nice!" She smiles and says "Thanks". I ask, "When did you do this?" "An hour or so ago" she says. I look at her again and she gets this cool smile as if she has been waiting for months for me to walk into this conversation..... oh yeah, she knows she just did something very good.

Girl 2

Girl 2

Fast forward two hours. I get home after doing some errands. I stop by the sketchbook again to see how Girl 1 is shaping up....Instead I see Girl 2. "What the...?" So I ask: "Where did this one come from?" She says casually: "I wanted to do another one..." I'm all: Really.....?

I take my time and soak in the details. The wispy hair strands, following the line of sight of her eyes makes me want to know what she is looking at, the forward hunchedness of her shoulders, the overall expression something like "reflective but aloof." It was fun to absorb this for a minute — and then connect the dots to what a fresh set of art supplies can actually unlock.

McKenna, I love your work. I thought I knew all your tricks. Apparently I didn't know this one. This is week one of an entire summer. There are a lot of blank pages left in that sketchbook — and after seeing what two hours and a fresh set of art supplies unlocked, I genuinely cannot wait to see what's in there by August 30.

Here's to art supplies. And to daughters who smile like they've been keeping a secret.