Elmer's Go Paint! (How I Survived Another Doctor Appointment)

We have recently been sick.  Actually, it's just been the children who have been ill, but it's hard on all of us.  Though M is in preschool four days a week, in the past month I had to take both of the children to the doctor's office.  Together.

Now, I'm sure most moms out there would say, "No big deal.  I take my thirteen children to the doctor's office and don't complain."  Well, from a very young age M's soul purpose when we were in an exam room was to escape.  And you know those doors open easily.  It makes visits to the doctor not so fun.

(I have learned that if I am the one to be examined, especially if I won't be fully dressed, then I cannot have children with me.  It's no fun to chase a child out the door if you are not dressed.)

For about a year my first line of defense has been a portable DVD player.  It does a pretty good job of entertaining M, but only if it's the right DVD.  E, our 1 year old, isn't so interested in TV.

We were given Elmer's Go Paint! for Christmas.  I had never heard of Go Paint before, but liked the idea.  It allows you to "paint" the pictures in the little book with a mess-free powder.  The Go Paint only paints on the special pages, and really it is not paint at all.  On your finger and other surfaces, it just appears as a white powder.



Before allowing M to play with it, I wanted to test it out for myself to see
just how mess-free it was.  I was pleased.

It doesn't truly look like paint.  It looks like colored pencils or pastels, but the pale color does appear after a few seconds.

Though I colored this daisy in my test run, M did use it for the full time we waited for the doctor to come in to the room.  Granted, she went from page to page, not completing any drawings, but she was still occupied.  This will be our new waiting activity.

When I went to Elmer's website, there was a Go Paint! coupon in the bottom right corner for you to click.