Because Noone Cheered Him Up

So I don't mean to turn this blog into "Yo, Peep My Kid's Artwork" dot com or anything - though that would undoubtedly make for a pretty good blog with tons of submissions - but this one really caught my attention.

Apparently, it's hanging outside the library at his school. One of our friends texted it to my wife, who then texted it to me, who then placed it here, surrounded by text. I love texting. 

Penny The Androgynous Robot

I found this sitting on the kitchen table one day when I came home from work. It's startled me how much I've been enjoying the art that my kids make, but this one in particular grabbed my attention. I asked the artist, my 6-year-old, if I could have it.

"Sure." I thought I detected a twinge of excitement in his answer, though it was heavily diluted with nonchalance. 

"What's its name?" I asked him. He didn't have a name for it. I told him that as the artist, he had to give it a name. 

"Well you could name it since I gave it to you," he said. 

"How about Sergio?" I suggested. He didn't like that. That got the disapproving look and the shake of the head. 

"Okay, how about....Goldie? Since his head is gold."

He looked at the picture for a moment as if considering it again for the first time since signing his name to it and setting it aside. "Penny, since his body is colored like a penny." It was not a suggestion. It was a christening. Penny was its name and its name was Penny. I liked it and I told him so. 

"So does that mean he's a girl, since Penny is a girl's name? Oh, or since he's a robot, maybe he's not a boy or a girl. Maybe he's androgynous." And then I asked a 6-year-old if he knows what androgynous means, halfway expecting him to tell me that yes he did. But he didn't. I told him it was kind of like being both a boy and a girl or neither at all. Wait, is that right? I thought to myself. Is that the word I'm looking for? 

As I type this, Penny hangs on the wall to my right. She has a great view of the clutter that is my desk.