Social Question

rebbel's avatar

Would you put the big painting, that your child made, hang on your livingroom wall?

Asked by rebbel (35553points) November 7th, 2011

You moved in to your new house and you are nearly finished with decorating and furnishing it, there only remains a big white space above the sofa.
You are discussing this empty space and what to do with it and your ten year old child overhears this.
A few days later she/he surprises you with a two by one meter big, spray painted canvas.
It is hideous, you both think…..
What are you going to do (with it)?

Inspired by a question in my Saturday newspaper in which is a section about etiquette.

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

20 Answers

bongo's avatar

That is so sweet of him/her. I would put it up. Its not how it looks is it? Its more how it makes you feel when you know she/he made that just for you. You can always move it later or move it to a more appropriate spot. I know I swap round pictures in my house regularly. It keeps things fresh. Maybe just when you have a move around put it somewhere like the bathroom or his/her bedroom if it is really that bad? We still have scribble drawings dotted about my parents house from when I was a kid. I am now 23 and a lot of them are still there. They aren’t works of art but its lovely to remember doing them or the thought that goes into a child making something for you.

JLeslie's avatar

Probably put it up. How hideous can it be? I guess maybe it might matter how the house is decorated overall. If everything is perfect and coordinated maybe not. Still, I am inclined to put it up, at least for a while. Maybe at worst say it doesn’t go well with that room and hang it somewhere else. But, really, I can’t imagine not putting it up on the wall in question. My mom put very little on the walls. She hated artwork and pictures everywhere, but she had a few pieces of artwork of mine and my sisters framed. Mine was no great piece of art, but I was very proud she put it up. Looking back it even makes me smile.

ANef_is_Enuf's avatar

I would definitely hang it. With pleasure. Who cares what it looks like?

wundayatta's avatar

I’m not hanging it. It does no good to have no standards when it comes to our children. They need to know they have to work hard to earn praise. I’d thank my child for their thoughtfulness and tell them that if they worked really hard, one day they might make something I’d be proud to place on the wall. I might even tell them that I’m saving that place for the time they do well enough.

Dutchess_III's avatar

I would hang it. Really…what’s really important?

Dutchess_III's avatar

What did the paper say about it @rebbel?

ANef_is_Enuf's avatar

My parents hung up my stick figures and crayon scribbles, and I still managed to become a talented artist. I suspect if they had told me they weren’t proud of my early art, that I wouldn’t have kept drawing.

Neizvestnaya's avatar

No. If kid wants, we can hang it in their room or get a glass sheet to turn it into a table/console for their room.

Dutchess_III's avatar

You’re a mean bee, @Neizvestnaya!

Neizvestnaya's avatar

@Dutchess_III: I’ve been gifted a Grinch t-shirt before, too!

Cruiser's avatar

I would just tell him you had another painting you had your heart set on putting there, but I would tell him just because you are so proud of his work you will hang it up for one week/month and then he can hang it proudly in his own room.

rebbel's avatar

—@Dutchess_III I translated the translation that Google made of the (Dutch) text, and it reads as follows:
_“Young children (under twelve) are continuously presenting moderately successful designs or craft chores, and their touched parents hang them somewhere. After a reasonable period of exhibition the ‘art’ then is discreetly removed. With an object that is too large you can’t do that, because it attracts too much attention and it dominates the rest of the interior.

So do not hang it up, but put it somewhere away in the attic or in an unused room. Not immediately put in the trash – you can always do that at a later time . If the child asks about it, can the father you tell him that you were touched by the effort to create something, but that the painting is too large.

He can grasp this fact for a lesson ‘gift giving’. You can explain that people like their own tastes to reflect them in the big things in their home (furniture, paintings, curtains, carpets etc.) and they do not like it if someone else decides how their interiors will look like.

The son will, in the rest of his life, have more gifts to give. Finding something that the receivers will like listens closely and an important rule of thumb to not annoy someone when making them a surprise is that a gift may be not too large (too bulky, too much space-consuming).“_

I agree with those Jellies that say they hang it, no matter the quality or whether I like the image.
I would be proud of his/her good-hearted attention.

MRSHINYSHOES's avatar

It was very sweet of my child to do that, so instead of not hanging the picture up, I would tell her that I found a “better spot” for her painting (in that case, I’d do my best to find a place in the house——we got a few bare walls in our finished basement——to hang the picture). I would go on to tell her that “Mommy and Daddy finally found something that we like to hang there”. Knowing my child, I know she’d understand.

To show her our appreciation and how proud we are of her “artwork”, I’d make a little “gold” placard with the title of the painting, her name, the date it was painted, etc., and put it underneath the picture. I think that would make her feel special.

If it’s “hideous”, as you note, my wife and I will still do our best to like it. In fact, my child’s effort and considerateness is enough to make us like it.

snowberry's avatar

I’d not feed that sort of thing. I’d tell him, “Thanks, but you should have checked with me first. Let’s see if it fits in your bedroom.” Most normal kids would be very happy to have their art in their room. Then I’d sign him up for art lessons.

For years I had a 10’ by 5’ canvas that I helped to make, and I hung it above my bed. It worked just fine.

downtide's avatar

I would hang it, but not for ever. Maybe for a few weeks then move it into his/her bedroom.

snowberry's avatar

People who make assumptions and act on them to that extent are pretty creepy when grown. It’s definitely not something you’d want to encourage in a child.

perspicacious's avatar

I would not. I would have no problem saying this is our home, but I’m the decorator, however, I have just the place for your nice piece. And, I would immediately come up with the perfect place.

I framed a piece my daughter did when she was in third grade. I treasure it.

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

Of course I’m hanging it.

ucme's avatar

First of all, I wouldn’t consider anything my kids crafted as being hideous.
If something is done by them, then by definition it has to be awesome, regardless of the subject matter.
Would I hang it there? Yeah I would, although knowing my kids as I do, they’d more than likely hang such a piece in their own bedrooms.

MissAusten's avatar

I’d probably explain how the colors don’t go with the rest of the room, or how the style is different. Then I’d ask the child if he or she would let me hang it in my bedroom. That’s pretty much what we do already; for ages our bedroom was “decorated” with drawings of Pokemon or collages of insect stickers. I don’t mind seeing those things and thinking of how happy it made the kids to give them to us, and since they are in our bedroom they aren’t cluttering the walls in parts of the house where we host guests.

Several weeks ago we rearranged our room and hung several of my husband’s paintings on the walls. It was a good opportunity for me to clear out the kid art. With all the changes, the kids didn’t question it or even seem to notice. I have accordion files where I keep art and schoolwork of theirs, and usually when something disappears they assume I’ve put it in those files.

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