Momentary Lapse of Reason

I ask myself what I was thinking. Here I am, Papa alone with Maddie on a Friday afternoon. All is well. Nap had been had, all are happy. Then a revelation comes to mind. Let's get creative and make a picture for Mama's birthday. But logic dictates this can't be any picture; not the normal crayon drawing, it has to be special, posses a deep down meaning, be permanent. Welcome finger paints. They look welcoming enough. Pictures of happy kids smiling on the cover of the box. Each color nearly distributed in its own individual bowl and each separate finger of each child assigned a specific color. The box cover shows the neat results. A nice line of red paint this way, blue paint that; not intersecting or mixing, but flowing beautifully to make a work of art. Parental units are smiling in the background as children enjoy themselves; smiling as they realize the only cleanup is the cover on the table they so meticulously arranged...oh wait, there isn't one...no need! Neat and easy clean up is the Crayola way!
I make all the necessary preparations, the cover under the high chair, all important objects removed from the surrounding circle of splatter and prepare for fun.  Little did I know I was at the beginning of an hour debacle ending with an afternoon Maddie bath.  Maddie loved the finger paints..she touched them and swirled on the paper...then it got messy when she wanted the tube herself..then she wanted more paint...then she put her fingers in her hair...cheeks..arms...feet......and finally threw the tube on the floor.  Mama came home to find a squeaky clean Maddie..smiling and eating..and a papa..who instantaneously said..."Well...bath is done!!!"
I don't get it..she's painted before and I came to pick her up for daycare..she was all nestled in her chair with finger paints just on her fingers..a nice picture she had been working on....and smiled at me....she could have been the Crayola poster child...instead my attempt resulted in slop and a two hour cleaning session...:)
She sure fooled me!!