Lovely Weeds: How To Paint With A Four Year Old

[THIS POST IS PART OF A 31 DAY SERIES. START HERE IF YOU'RE NEW!]

We have undertaken an overhaul of our back yard. It's not the most hospitable of places, and we decided it's time to change that.

I'll write soon about the biggest piece of this particular puzzle, but one thing led to another and our little boy's swing set is getting a makeover too. Why?

Because it looks like this.

I purposely didn't straighten that picture so you could see it in all its crooked glory. I know... yikes.

Tattered canopy (honestly Sears, how was that supposed to last?!). The fix for that is going to be SO cool. The junker in me could not be more excited.

The T-post was a quick-fix to help it withstand a few terrible wind storms we had this spring. It worked perfectly, so we'll just go ahead and add a few more and pretty them up.

This was supposed to be a little picnic table and bench, but they quickly turned into oversized steps for my son. I re-worked it a little bit and we'll add some new roofing and create a first story to his little fort!

The finish on the wood was faded and looked terrible, and we added some new wood to further support the fort section that didn't match, so I decided to paint it (we'll add a weatherproof coating when it's finished).

Luckly, I had help...

I promise, he had fun. He took the job of "painting KJ's house" very, very seriously.

And learned a little lesson about getting paint on your hands, and how it's not the catastrophe you might think it is.

In fact, it can be a little fun to spend the day covered in paint.

So how do you paint with a little person and still end up with a mostly-descent paint job?

1) Give him a cheap chip brush.
It'll be smashed, dropped in the dirt, completely covered in paint, and abandoned periodically when a chicken needs chasing or a golden retriever needs a fetch session.

2) He needs his own dish with a tiny bit of paint.
Dear Lord don't let him near the gallon :).

3) Use his paint puddles
When he stops to look at the butterflies, scoop up some of that puddled up paint to cover another area and smooth it out. Don't let him catch you!