Ways to squash your young artist's joy. Note that these are not intended to be comprehensive, but just to give you the general flavor of it. Of course, once you understand the ideas, you can extend them to just about anything else -- school, sports, church, even personal appearance. 1) Tell her that it's wrong. Don't limit yourself on this one. The options are virtually endless. Here's a few to get you started. * It's the wrong color. * It's the wrong shape. * It's the wrong size. * Those colors don't match. 2) Tell her not to mix the colors. 3) Scold her for spilling it. 4) Refuse to help. 5) Insist on helping. 6) Ask if that's supposed to be a platypus. 7) Imply that the end product is more important than having fun making it. ie, mistake art, the object, for art, the process. 8) Think about the cleanup while you're working on the art.