Painting Tigers

"You are a beautiful and majestic tiger. Your ears dance with black stripes and white spots. Your eyes glow green surrounded by long lashes that protect you from the tropical rains. Your nose is pink speckled with black dark as licorice. Your scratchy orange and white cheeks have many long white wispy whiskers. You love to count them. One. Two. Twenty. Your teeth are sharp and menacing. Brown little rabbits are afraid of your smile. They also are afraid of your ferocious GRRRRR!!!! Go ahead, let's see your smile and hear your voice..."

"GRRRRRR!!!""

"Wow! I am shaking in fear! The rabbits are so afraid that they never even noticed that you are wearing a big bright pink bow."

"Don't forget the lipstick!"

"Do tigers wear lipstick? I don't think so!"

Laughter fills the room, as I try to wiggle away from being tickled by my dad.

As my dad tucked us in each evening, he would paint my sisters and I with imaginary face paint. The true delight would be in the anticipation of a tickle or two as he turns us into a daily imaginary creature or persona. We didn't always know where the tickles would be, but we did know that there was always one at the very end. This was because his favorite conclusion to each story was adding a tail to our imaginary being - whether they had one or not.

"Princesses don't have tails!" We would often protest, thinking we could avoid the final tickles. We never did. Trolls, giants, lady bugs, ballerinas... it never mattered.

Years later, and in commemorating with my sisters about favorite childhood bedtime rituals, we all remember how much fun this was. What better way to fall asleep than imaginative games with a parent?

We also remember my mom reading to us the popular children books of the time, such as: Where the Wild Things Are, The Giving Tree and If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. As we grew older and could sit for longer spells, she would read to us longer chapter books as we colored or did some other quiet activity to wind down for the evening. Whenever I encounter The Little House on the Prairie or The Little Women, I remember how enriching that experience was.

This is what I would like to pass down to my son: the experience of reading and making up of stories together. He may forget the particulars of the books, but I want him to be confident in his ability to participate in creative oration and the written word.

Barely one years old, he is too young for me to paint him into a dragon or a knight, but he does fall asleep to finger plays. Currently, his favorites are: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Where Is The Beehive, and Once I Caught A Fish Alive. He loves rhymes and the anticipation that I create for him by tickling him at a specific point after a hand sign and by a certain intonation of my voice. I love to pause first.

I wait for his reaction.

In the most adorable way, he gives me an all-knowing smile of what is to come, before breaking out into giggles.

His whole face also lights up when I pull out his favorite book, Never Feed A Shark - a current popular interactive book about feeding dangerous animals. The illustrations are colorful and the text rhymes. We make the animal sounds and let him touch the teeth of the creatures. Although, sometimes it is cumbersome to read it over and over again, I am delighted that he is already interested in the experience. He touches the pages as he is ready for them to be turned and coos when he recognizes an image or a line from the story. Even, when I don't have the book handy, I will recite the text and he perks up or stops fussing. He remembers.

My husband and I are already planning on how to set up his toddler bed to be a little book nook. We would be delighted if he hid under the covers as we did in our youth to read his favorite stories. They may not be The Boxcar Children, or anything we grew up with, but our goal is to create many literary experiences that he will remember fondly, that will develop into his own life-long passion for literature, and establish traditions that he will hopefully pass down to his future family.