Coloring Through Germany

The question I'd been waiting for. Our baby looks at me like I have three heads when I say anything in German. Three heads would be useful these days. I'd get more done. The toddler is a different story. He's beginning to understand that the world extends past our front door, the playground, and beyond whatever distance counts as "far" in his head. For a while now, I've been telling him about Oma and Opa being born in Germany and now living in Canada. And much the same way, I was born in Canada and now live in Wales. He'd nod and say "okay" with the same enthusiasm I share for “later” and “it's bedtime.” Then we took a ferry to France. Suddenly, there was a concrete thing a long way away called France, sitting next to another thing called Germany, both of them existing somewhere that was not here. He finally had a frame of reference, and the edge of his world widened by one whole country. And then a few days ago, I showed him a coloring page I'd made from a photo I took of the Plönlein in Rothenburg. He asked what it was. I scanned a QR code on the page and showed him the original photo I had taken. Then he asked the question I'd been unknowingly waiting on for months. “What's Germany?” It turned out the answer needed crayons. That little stack of coloring pages began as a way to do something useful with the thousands of photos I've taken of places I've been in Germany and rarely get back to. It wound up becoming a sideways route into where his grandparents come from, without the desperation of a parent trying far too hard with someone who wasn't ready. Each drawing includes a brief description, a QR code linking to the original photo, and a more detailed overview of the location. There's a history behind each one that's easy to miss at the time, and sometimes harder to forget once you know it. As a thank you for sticking with my weekly ramblings, I put together a free three-pack called Color In Your Roots. Same format and same quality as the full collection, yours to keep, print, and reprint as often as the small humans in your life require. If a moment like the one I had after the ferry shows up unexpectedly, it helps to have something ready to go. And when they have a question, you'll have the answer. → Color In Your Roots (US Letter)→ Color In Your Roots (A4) If you'd like the full printable collection, no obligations, it lives here when you need it. Just Like Oma Shop → Coloring Through Germany You never quite know when a small mind is suddenly going to become interested. A few crayons within reach makes the moment easier to catch. P.S. He has since decided that all castles are yellow. We will not be correcting him. P.P.S. Just wait till I show him Hohenschwangau…

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Coloring Through Germany

The question I'd been waiting for.

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