By Brianna (Drew @ Age 6)
Even before the development of speech, drawing offers children a means of self-expression and also allows them to explore ideas and feelings. Children's drawings are truthful representations of the world as they know it, and they communicate creative and imaginative thoughts and feelings through the pictures they draw.
While organizing some my file cabinet, I found several drawings that my children have done over the they years. It brings back memories of when they were little, and just barely learning to hold a pencil or a crayon. Their first pictures were scribbles of lines and zigzags. It is only through the little notes on the sides that I can make out what Brianna or Joseph's picture was about. Then there are the "tadpole" drawings, where parts of a face, a feet a nose, and eyes begin to emerge. Presently, the images and figures are more advanced. The images are a little bit more clearer and a little bit more recognizable, and I can recognize if it's a drawing of a boy or a girl. Clothings are now visible, and take the place of the body, and the arms and legs are longer. It's so much fun to see the different stages of their drawings.
I came across these two pictures that Brianna and Joseph made for me last year. I love it when my kids makes me a special drawing of our family, especially when Joshua is included in the picture. It brings joy and tears to my heart that Brianna and Joseph remember their baby brother. It was important for my husband and I to keep the memory alive of our baby Joshua, by visiting his grave with the kids and letting them be a part of the visit by helping to choose the flowers or toys we bring to his grave.
