Artsy Fartsy Friday: Gracie's Monster

Gracie's Take: I write my name. And we stuck these pieces of paper on. We did a scrap. And this is a sticker. These are the bumps she got on her head. Ouchies. This is where the monster hole is. Then I wrote a big oval. Then I colored. I couldn't squeeze the one arm in there because no room was left. Pretend it has an invisible cast.

Dad's Take: Gracie's had three half days of schools, and already she's bring me home artwork. There's a lot going on with this one. First you have the beady eyes. Those things will look right into your soul, don't stare directly into them. It's also apparently clumsy. It has so many bumps on its head. Including one that appears to have transformed into a unicorn horn. Then there's the monster hole. I'm guessing that's where the monster came from, how it got to her artwork. Or maybe that's just where it lives. And last but not least, this monster has an invisible cast. It's not a one-armed monster. No, that would be too easy. This is a magical, unicorn monster with beady eyes and one arm wrapped in an invisible cast. It's only the first week of school, and this is what she's bringing me: magical, unicorn monsters with beady eyes and invisible arms. I'm not sure where we go from here.

Mrs. Rabbers' Take: In a rare turn of events, we actually have the answer to this week's artwork, thanks to Mrs. Rabbers. I don't expect Gracie to come home with a cheat sheet every week, but here we go: "Today, the students made a monster! You may think that's a very strange project to do on the first day, but they heard a story about a monster's first day of school, and he didn't know any of the rules, so he had a rough first day! I use this story to start a conversation about rules and ways to help each other learn."

Dad's Take 2: Yeah, I didn't get any of that from Gracie. I'm not 100 percent sure she got the point of that story.