Of Obsessed Mothers and School Lunches

Ever since I have become a mother, I feel that I am suffering from a mild case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Related in some way or another to Little B. No I am not joking! I make sure that there are separate trays for different colors and they stay within their own trays at all times. I make sure that the clothes are piled according to at least a dozen categories. And the most recent one, if I and Little B want something, we first attempt to DIY it and only when our DIY attempt fails that we consider buying it. Case in point, the toy cash register, the Lego organizer and Little B’s 4^th birthday party where I DIYed almost everything.

Does my obsession looks like a serious ailment to you? May be it does, but I can tell you that it is a healthy obsession. In fact due to my recent DIY obsession I feel like a creative person, almost like an innovator. As if whatever I put my mind to I can make it with my bare hands!

Following my obsession, I was Google searching for other obsessed moms out there. It is encouraging to know that I am not the only one. And that is when I found out about Nina Levy from Daily Napkins.

Just one look at Nina’s blog and you will know how amazing she is. As every other mother in the mommy universe, Nina was dealing with the tough task of getting her son to finish his lunch in school. She came up with a unique idea. She started sketching over the napkin to encourage her son to eat.

That was 2006. Today, 8 years later, Nina is still packing beautiful napkins along with the school lunches for her 12 and 8 year old sons. However now she has taken the whole napkin drawing thing to another level. She has gone as elaborate as anyone can get in hand painting napkins. She draws inspiration from what her sons are interested in and illustrates on the delicate napkins with waterproof markers and doodles a special message on the side. They are always signed “(Love, Mom).” And she does it every single day of their school!

Have a look at these –

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2015/02/insipid-valentine-with-hamsters.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2014/12/the-best-robin-from-teen-titans-go.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2015/03/limecat-and-r2d2.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2015/05/hulkbuster-armor-with-broccoli.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2014/12/the-best-robin-from-teen-titans-go.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2014/10/zombie-horde-brings-fruit-and-vegetables.html

I got extremely interested in Nina’s ‘Daily Napkins’ and contacted her with the idea of featuring her here at YellowMellowLife.com. She replied positively and added,

“I am not an exemplary mother in many ways…just can’t seem to stop with the napkins.”

“just can’t seem to stop with the napkins”?! I realized it instantly that Nina is my true “obsessive mother” twin! Only she is doing it better and much more than what I do!

Here’s our email conversation that followed –

YellowMellowLife – You prepare these napkins every single day. What is the reason for it – obsession, dedication, love or something else?

Nina – I probably draw on the napkins for a combination of the three reasons you proposed above. They started as simple notes in black sharpie to try to reassure my first son when he was two and a half and went to nursery school for a half day twice a week. They have escalated over the years. I see them as an enforced drawing practice every night as well as a way to connect with my kids. My older son has pretty much aged out of the program. He now eats lunch in the cafeteria during the school year and does not need a packed lunch except during summer camp. My younger son will probably be done pretty soon also. I am not sure what the situation will be for lunch for him next year.

YellowMellowLife – You started your napkin project in 2006. What is the count of the napkins you have painted till now?

Nina – I am not certain how many we have overall. We did not keep them for the first couple of years. Last year I calculated how many I thought we had, and it was somewhere near 2000. We are certainly in excess of that now.  There are more than 1100 on the blog. I did not start posting them there until July 2011.

YellowMellowLife – Last year you won the TUACA Napkin Art Competition. Did you ever think that this is where your napkin fascination will lead you to?

Nina – No. I have certainly become more interested in illustration over the years as my drawing skills have improved. Unfortunately, I now draw better on napkins than on any other surface. There aren’t many ways to earn money drawing on napkins, so I was very grateful to hear about the TUACA competition.

YellowMellowLife – How do you decide what to paint on the napkins?

Nina – I often get specific requests from the kids, some of which are impossible to execute. Absent a request, I try to draw something that interests them, ideally something that they have been looking at, playing with, or reading about the day before. I also try to combine characters and situations in interesting or ironic ways, but that is an extra challenge that I can’t always manage late at night in between cleaning the kitchen and folding the laundry.

YellowMellowLife – Can you take us through, step by step, of how you paint them?

Nina – I am not sure that I would really recommend napkins as a medium to anyone else. Had I to do it over again, I think I would have tried to acquire drawing practice over the last decade on paper rather than absorbent paper products.

Sometimes I need to do some research online for source material. I try not to spend more than a few minutes on Google looking for pictures. Often I make a preliminary sketch in pencil on cheap printer paper. Needless to say, there is no erasing on napkins. If I have not made a preliminary sketch, I draw on the napkin in pencil first. If I have a sketch, I use a fine point (.005 mm) black pen to outline the image. Then I work from light to dark using mostly alcohol-based Copic brand art markers. Occasionally I use paint markers for opaque highlights.

Consciously Connecting With The Child Every Single Day

How I see it is that Nina has found a way to connect with her sons every single day. Often parents have just an idea of what their children are up to. We don’t for sure what event/movie/experience made what kind of impact on them. We talk to them but perhaps not every day. However, what Nina does, it seems like she takes out time to consciously connect with her children. And that is what her napkins reflect. They are not just about ‘characters and fun’ but also about a mother understanding her children’s perspective.

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2015/05/cafeteria-animals.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2014/12/rocket-and-groot-decorate-for-holidays.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2015/03/attack-on-pokemon.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2014/12/ocean-animals-express-gratitude.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2014/10/watching-tv-with-giant-kitten.html

http://ninaslevy.blogspot.in/2015/02/shark-with-birthday-cake.html

YellowMellowLife’s own Napkin Project

As if I did not have enough to obsess with already, Nina Levy you have given me another one. I like your way of spending time with your children, trying to understand what they are going through and drawing the same every day like a daily diary. I think it is an incredible way to understand not just children but also oneself as a mother.

Inspired that I got, I and Little B had our own “Daily Napkin” project. Little B currently is obsessed with The Boxtrolls and want to wear boxes. She has also started planning for her Boxtrolls-themed party for her birthday which is more than half-an-year away. And she is such a moody eater. That morning she was just not ready to eat her breakfast. So Mr B was playing with her pretending to be a Pa-robot trying to make her eat oatmeal. And so I came up with this idea –

Not as good as yours Nina but still quite something, eh?

Little B also tried her hands at napkin art and made this.

So is this a good trick to get children to finish their lunches?

Nina – I have absolutely no success with getting my sons to eat their lunches. I could pack pizza and birthday cake and candy and they still would not eat it…well, depending on the nature of the candy, they might eat that alone. I don’t think the decorated napkins have ever had any positive effect on the kids’ diet. I find packing lunches to be difficult and a bit depressing. I try to aim for the midpoint between what I think they should be eating and what they might actually eat (if they are going to bother to eat anything at all) so I include a lot of cut fruit, plain pasta and pizza-like items.

Don’t worry Nina, you are not alone. I (your obsessed mother twin) and many other moms from Obsessed-Mothers family are standing beside you. And one day we will definitely win this battle.

See Nina Levy’s journey of Daily Napkins here.

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