Dear, IRS . . . . Love, Axel

For quite some time now, I have been forcing Axel to create art. Coloring seems logical at his age, and crayon is easy to scrub from wood floors or high-chair trays.  The only problem with your child being an artist is the high cost of materials.

For a while he insisted on eating the crayons and for fear of springing for yet another $6 set of Melissa and Doug crayons, I closely monitored the problem until they stopped going in his mouth.  Paper is another story.

Not only do I hate having to slash trees to create a writing surface, the paper supply in our house is 13 stairs down, in the basement. Always pondering ways to stay eco-conscious, and save myself any unnecessary calorie burn...I realized that many good people in this world are sending me coloring medium by mail.  In fact, the mailman that I am constantly battling, delivers just what I need all too often.

Axel has started coloring on the backs of bills.  I simply tear off the pay stub, and the rest is his.  How fun my bills are now.  Filing them, quarterly report time, not to mention the fun our accountant will have next January.  I can only hope for an IRS audit...surely they will see the artistic potential in it all.

As he gets more advanced with the crayon...the bills will also help him learn to stay in the lines.  There are plenty of "0's" for him to color in!