The art of the redirect

A few months ago my son got caught tagging a utility pole with graffiti. After thanking my neighbor for catching him, I had to consider the best way to handle the situation.

I thought about having a police officer I know stop by the house to explain how misdemeanors work—how colleges don’t look fondly upon them.

Then again, I didn’t want to take away his one creative outlet. Like a lot of kids, he spends more time on screens than he probably should.

Seeing him pursue something creative, expressive, and completely analog was a breath of fresh air (Krylon smell aside).

So I went a different route.

That night, I took him to the local craft store. He was the proverbial kid in a candy store as he loaded up the cart with spray paint, markers, and plenty of foam core to put it on.

He’s been at it ever since, going over concepts, figuring out the flowy lines, and perfecting his tags in the basement.

After stumbling across his latest work the other day, it dawned on me how little there is separating what he does for fun and what I do for a living.