My 10-yr-old son, the cat lover
vs.
Mike Allegra (HeyLookAWriterFellow), the rodent lover
Mike posted the “naughty kitten” doodle he drew (reluctantly) for my son, and in return, Mike received a tribute to furry creatures with front teeth that never stop growing.
Celebrate Mice! (Watch Your Tail!!)
My iPhone photo of a copy of the original turned the cheese a bit green, but I’m sure the mouse doesn’t care.
Mike is still waiting to tear into the chocolate I sent him for winning the What Do David Shannon and My Son Have in Common? competition, because he gave up chocolate for Lent, poor guy.
Sniff, sniff, as the mouse says….Better check your cupboards, Mike, to make sure the chocolate hasn’t been nibbled away by those nefarious critters! (Or your son)
Jilanne Hoffmann 
Fortunately, both my wife and son have also given up sweets for Lent. The mice are Unitarian, however, so I’m keeping my eyes peeled for wee chocolate thieves.
Your boy is a heckuva artist! (But I’ve told you this many, many times.) I’m gonna reblog this post as soon as my new Waffles with Writers one has a few days to marinate.
You’re going to marinate me? Gulp. In what?!
Fine wine would b good
Old blueberries?
Ok, let’s compromise. Blueberry wine.
This is why I like you so much Jilanne; you’re a team player.
I don’t know about those mice. The chocolate might need 24 hour security.
You gave up sweets for Lent again? Wasn’t last year torment enough?? Oh wait, I guess that’s the whole point of Lent, isn’t it, giving up something that hurts. Never mind.
Be nice to Mike. He’s in pain and still has a week to go.
I know, the poor guy. I remember his trials and tribulations from last year as well, and I feel for him. A sweet-free existence is truly painful, even if it’s for a good cause.
I could never do it. I ate no small amount of extra dark chocolate last night. And now that I think about it, the sun is nearly over the yard arm, so I could have a bit more right now. I promise not to let Mike know that I’m indulging while he’s suffering.
Keep it together, Mike. Keep it together.
Keepittogetherkeepittogetherkeepittogetherkeepitto–
Oh, um, I’m sorry, Weebles. Did you say something?
Great perspective and line angles on the cheese pic there!
He’s been working on perspective. I’ll let him know you noticed.
I’m so pleased I said that then, it’s always satisfying when somebody notices something we’ve been working on isn’t it!
Yes!
He’s really great at these – not just the drawings, but the humour. I love the picture on the wall… 😀
Yes, even the artwork isn’t safe from the nibblers. I’ll let him know you appreciate his work! Thanks!
Please post more pics by Liam – perhaps he could have his own blog!
Thank you, LF, for your enthusiastic response! However, I’m one of those unreasonable parents who insists that my child turns his homework in on time, picks up after himself, participates in a variety of physical activities, plays board and card games with his parents, reads, draws, and builds things. He is only granted 15 minutes of screen time (that means video games since we don’t have a TV) per day during the school week–if he has his homework finished–and 30 minutes per day of screen time on the weekends. He uses that time to play video games like Minecraft and Fifa soccer. If he were to have his own blog, I can guarantee you that he would disappear into the electronic stratosphere never to be seen again. Perhaps when he’s older…I am such an old fogie…
I will be posting more of his drawings on my blog. Stay tuned!
Well good on you. – and no doubt that is why his art work and vision are so good rather than his angry bird scores!
@(^_^)@
The teacher in me is saying…A+…long live the old fogies!!
Thank you for the support! It can get mighty lonely out there in the “no, you can’t have extra screen time land.”
I was very much the same way about Nintendo when my daughter was of school age, except I didn’t allow it at all. My response to the inevitable please was, “When you earn your own money, you can spend it as you choose.” When she was fifteen or sixteen and had a real job, the first thing she bout was a Nintendo. She played it for a month, heavily. Then she played it once in a while when a friend would visit and want to play. After a year, almost not at all and by the second year, she sold it. Yay!!
Brilliant! Sounds like she figured out there is much more to life.
That’s great – thanks for making me laugh! I love the cheese art hanging on the wall with the bites taken out of it.
Glad his work made you smile. I will let him know you appreciated it. And, yes, mice love cheesy art. 😀
The cheese art is wonderful. I need some edible art! Great fun, thanks for sharing.
You never know where his humor is going to strike. 😀 Keeps me guessing. Thanks for stopping by, Kate!
It’s so fun when the children play well together! Now is Liam the older one or is it Mike? I get confused. Anyway, they can both draw really cool stuff!
Yes, I find them both very entertaining. And I love the stuff they draw, too. 😀
It will be fun to see what Liam does when he’s older. And it’s also somewhat awesome that Mike encourages him. That’s going to make a nice memory for him when he’s older and can truly appreciate it.
Yes! And I hope Liam encourages another young illustrator (or more than one) some day.
Exactly!
Aw. Yer a peach, Laurel.
And I try to go for child-like rather than child-ish, but I don’t always succeed.
It’s such a fine line! I also think childish is perfectly okay after 6 p.m. and if Chicago Fire got canceled.
Ohh, how I love smart crafty artsy doodlers. Your son is beginning a happy career in fun art, and we all appreciate his talent! I enjoy the ‘good night moon’ through the window, giving light to the scene. The only change I’d make if it were my doodle is that the cheese the mouse is sniffing at would be CHOCOLATE. 🙂
You can rest assured that chocolate would have been our son’s preference, too. 😀 But he sacrificed his own desires to give that poor little mouse a tasty treat. After all, the mouse has his life on the line, doesn’t he?
I’ll tell my son you enjoyed his drawings. Thank you for stopping by and commenting!
I look forward to seeing more of his talented doodles in the future. Maybe with a chocolate-loving mouse!!!
Jilanne, your son is diabolically clever and gifted. I like him.
Oh, he will love to know that you think he’s “diabolically clever.” He’s constantly developing pranks and traps and any assortment of tricks to play against his parents and friends. We work hard to stay one step ahead of him. I’ll let him know you admire his efforts. 😀
Thank you for coming by and commenting!
I tried to give up chocolate last year epic fail. This year it looks like I gave up exercising 😉
Great doodle!
I gave up chocolate for a short period of time when I developed a strange illness where caffeine, chocolate, and salt gave me vertigo. Since then, I’ve tested small quantities of each to figure out quantities and brands that don’t affect me. Thankfully, I’ve had some success. The Chocolate restriction was killing me! I’m all for rewarding exercise with chocolate, BTW. It’s a good motivator. 😀
Good plan! My mum had vertigo after a long flight to see us in New Zealand. Sounds scary.
It appears Mike has some stiff doodle competition here. Excellent job by the young artist.
Although he would shudder at the thought, rodent lover that he is, Mike has served as a marvelous “cat”alyst for our son’s doodles. 😀
I will let Liam know you appreciate his work.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note!
Awesome artistic talent! Well played, Liam! Well played!
I’ll give Liam your enthusiastic response. It serves to fuel his imagination even more! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Well, I’m s little late, first time here. I love the drawing. I especially like the window and the perspective. What an excellent eye and such artistic talent. Give him a few years and children’s book illustrator might be a possible career choice. My TV broke and I chose not to spend the money to fix it. Amazingly, I haven’t missed it much. I would love to return and see more of your talented boy’s art. I checked out his graphic novel part I and was hoping to find part 2. Love his humor and the graphic novel layout was near perfection. Great blog. I think I’ll follow.
Hi Sue! Yes, my son is considering illustration as a possible career, among others. He’s had some terrific teachers, one who just went to China on a Fulbright. But he’s just 10, so who knows what he will decide to do. He has many interests and a bit of ADD, just like me, so he sometimes gets distracted and heads in other directions. I’ll have to remind him that his “fans” are waiting for the second installment. Stay tuned! And thanks for the follow!
Also, congrats on winning Mike’s doodle contest. You’ll love whatever he draws for you!
I read your bio and saw that you’ve worked with kids with special needs. I forgot to mention in my earlier response that my mom (a nursing consultant) worked for the University of Illinois’s Division of Services of Specialized Care for Children for 40 years. And I often volunteered to work clinics with her every couple of weeks before I left home. She retired from working her last clinic (spina bifida) when she was 80. When she died at age 87, we created a fund to send kids with spina bifida to camp. After hearing from so many of “her kids” after she died, we realized her legacy of love could be memorialized in this way. You are doing a great service with your volunteerism!