I am pleased to introduce you to this week’s guest blogger. Corissa Nelson is a work-at-home mom and artist/designer/blogger in Wisconsin. She writes and illustrates “Parenthood Sketches” for Sunday mornings at CorissaNelsonArt.com and has her paintings available on Etsy. Corissa enjoys a serious addiction to good coffee, the scent of a fresh canvas, and the color gray.
Have you seen those brightly colored breakable objects that are shaped like animals and marketed to children? They are usually tagged “piggy banks.” Form and function have not exactly come together where ceramic piggy bank design is concerned.
My kids have a large collection of bright breakable objects shaped like pigs. The collection is a ceramic hog farm, really. I try to keep the farm out of reach, but my six-year-old is tall. He helps out his little brother and sister by handing them their piggy banks. He’s so sweet. He also helps them empty their banks to examine the coins. Then, he kindly puts all the change away (all into his own bank) at the end of the learning session.
.
At least the designers of the piggy bank were kind enough to include an alarm system, so I know when my children are sneaking into swine territory. When I hear that “jangle jangle jangle,” of copper on ceramic, I know the money redistribution is about to begin. I run. The jangle jangle also means that the probability of a piggy bank shattering just increased considerably. Tears, blood, ceramic shards, and lost money… let’s avoid that..
A couple of days ago, I heard the jangle jangle pig farm alarm and ran up the stairs. When I got to the bedroom, I found my sweet two-year-old daughter doing the ceramic pig jig. She was shaking a magenta polka-dot piggy above her head, her body swaying to the percussion rhythm.
.
I said the first thing that came to mind:
.
.
That made sense to her. She put it down and went back to playing store with her pink plastic cash register. Crises averted… for now.
~~~
The art above is Corissa’s creation.
~~~
Your turn:
what sort of noises have you found annoying lately?
what sort of noises have you found annoying lately?
did you have a piggy bank when you were young?
I did have one. My kids had big plastic eggs. I never had to worry about their maracas!
I can tune out any nose that kids toys make now a days. But the one thing that drive me up the wall and I wish I could find the batteries is this tablet that teaches the kids shapes, numbers, and shapes. I don’t know why but for some reason it sounds like nails on a backboard. I keep counting the days till the things dies.
I didn’t really have a piggy bank I had a bunny bank that was plastic, but still made a cool sound when shook. My own kids have coffee cans they painted them self as “piggy” banks. It still makes cool sound and lets me know when money is being “played” with.
There was the day I heard two ten- year- old boys shriek, accompanied by the sound of a great slooshing and sloshing – and when I discovered that was made by the can of oil based paint they used to anchor a blanket fort on a high shelf, opening and spraying across the family room – they heard noises from me I dare not repeat. ( You’re illustrations are charming.)
There is a toy that plays “it’s cool at the mall” if you push the button. The 18 month old takes the remix version to heart as she demonstrates her DJ skills by hitting the button repeatedly. Wish it would get lost…
There is an app available for iPods and iPads which all the males in this house have. It’s called a sound board. Along with claps and boos, hand slaps and gun shots it also has farts. Not only that, it has a complete, separate selection of just fart sounds! How long do you think the wonder of creating these lovely sound effect sequences will last?? Probably longer than my sanity…time to stock up on the sherry me thinks!
Oh – so I should stop shaking mine
I love the hog farm! And your art is fantastic, too! Currently, every single noise on the planet annoys me because my physical activity has been sidelined due to an injury. I am reminded that the reason I ever started to work out at all is so I can be around other humans without wanting to kill them, or vice versa. Maybe I need to shake a piggy bank like a maraca. It sounds refreshing. I did have a plastic Mickey Mouse head bank when I was little and one night I sleep-walked with it downstairs, leaking change all the way down to the family room.
Love it. Great art, too! Blood-pressure raising rackets in my world include incessant fake coughing battles between my extraordinarily loud 2 & 4 year old fellas, and the also incessant sound of my cat grooming herself. It truly sounds like she wears a mask and snorkel. And she cleans no less than 80% of the day. Phewf, I think that clears me of ever becoming a crazy cat lady……right?
You’re one funny, Mom, Corissa!
What else can I say?
Believe it or not … my daughter, as a toddler loved piggy’s so much that for her 8th birthday we actually got her a mini pot belly pig! Yes, a live one! Of course, we live in Iowa and could get by with this. 🙂 The sound of a live piggy vs. a change machine is no comparison! Oh the things we do to see our children laugh and love … great post, thank you for sharing it!
I find the sound of silence the most concerning as of late. It usually means my Lil Bit is involved in some sort of suspicious activity. Thank goodness she is not yet tall enough to reach her princess bank for surely, as much as she loves “monies”, she would be contemplating a way to break into it. And then we would go shopping….just kidding, maybe…
The sound of people in public places playing angry birds with the volume on high.
The dogs licking licking licking. It’s discusting, To say the least.
Whining, I have 6 yr old son who thinks its the only way he’s allowed to talk right now.
A truck some moron gave my boys that has built in “music” buttons to bounce your struts to. I am currently hiding them so I can donate them to a parent in need of crazy.