MARK MY WORD: CHILDREN STICK UP FOR ART, TURN HOME INTO GALLERY

Our children have turned our home into an art studio and gallery. It makes our house seem like a never-ending, work-in-progress.

As a parent, you want to encourage your kids' artistic side. But when your children are 2 and 5 years old, art takes on a messy quality.

Bailey has discovered that almost anything can be a canvas for her creativity. She recently has taken to drawing on our walls and doors like some tireless graffiti artist.

The other day I caught her doodling on the back bedroom door. Fortunately, she was armed only with a pencil.

At age 2, she doesn't know about spray paint yet. But if she keeps this up, even the toilets won't be safe from her wandering, wavy lines of art.

She even has been known to draw on the pages of her children's books.

At times, we have confiscated pens, pencils and markers in an effort to protect our home from kiddie graffiti.

We let Becca and Bailey draw as long as they do so on paper.

At age 5, Becca learned long ago that our walls aren't her personal canvas.

Bailey hasn't learned that yet. As near as I can tell, she views the walls in our home as an opportunity for artistic expression -- a virtual welcome mat that seems to say, "Draw on Me."

Not only is she into drawing, she also has her own unique way with three dimensional art. She sticks Barney Band-Aids on the living room furniture. Even the TV set isn't immune to her stick-it-on style.

I've tried to explain to her that Band-Aids are for boo-boos, not interior decorating. But I don't think she believes me.

Of course, the manufacturer is partly to blame. When the Band-Aids have that purple dinosaur stamped all over them, it is hard for 2-year-olds to resist the temptation to plaster them on anything and everything.

At times, Bailey even tries to decorate my blue jeans with that smiling Barney face.

Becca has progressed to the art-gallery stage of creative expression. This means that when she finishes one of her crayon or magic marker drawings, she hangs it up.

Walls and doors that were bare one minute are suddenly covered with artwork the next.

Becca manages to do this with the aid of a lot of Scotch tape. I have no doubt that she will grow up to be one of those people who use a ton of tape in wrapping Christmas presents.

The end result, of course, is a present that requires a chain saw to open. But that way, you're sure to remember the gift, assuming that you can get it open before next Christmas.

In our house, even the furniture and carpet aren't safe from the Scotch tape queen.

Becca sticks to her hobby, which has turned our home into an impromptu art gallery.

She even likes to rearrange her drawings that are posted with magnets on the refrigerator door.

Who knows? One day she just might be a museum curator or at least sell refrigerator art.

As parents, we're glad to encourage artistic expression just as long as it's not taped to our hair. We just hope they don't get too wrapped up in it.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.