If you thought your tween was clumsy, spare a thought for a 12-year-old Taiwanese boy, who suffered the most epic whoopsie while visiting an art gallery. His fist sank into a painting that happened to be 350 years old and worth an estimated $1.5m.
The painting by Paolo Porpora was an oil called, simply, Flowers, and was part of the Genius exhibition currently showing in Taipei.
The Puma T-shirt-wearing kid saunters past the cordoned painting holding what appears to be a can of pop. But his foot catches, causing him to trip, and hand meets canvas.
Lucky for the stunned boy, the museum has no plans to sue his family for damages. It's unclear what the restoration costs will be, but you can only imagine. A lifetime's worth of paper routes.
Insurers of the painting, owned by a private collector, will foot the cost to repair the fist-sized hole in the canvas.
“All 55 paintings in the venue are authentic pieces and they are very rare and precious,” reads the exhibition’s Facebook page. “Once these works are damaged, they are permanently damaged.”
So you have to wonder why this painting - and others like it - aren't better protected from the public.
But even collectors aren't safe from themselves. Casino magnate Steve Wynn accidentally elbowed his own Picasso, Le Rêve. The worst part: Wynn had been planning to sell the picture for an eye-watering $155m when his elbow had the misfortune to collide with the canvas.
Wynn took the incident in his stride, allegedly uttering a mere "Oh, shit. Oh, man." And he decided to keep the painting, after all.
Spill it: Have you or your kids ever damaged something through sheer clumsiness?
Picture it: your little guy gets a duplicate toy for this birthday and you take him to the store to return it, telling him he can pick something else. It's your choice, you tell him. You choose whatever you want...
But what happens if he chooses what four-year-old Isaiah Willis chose? Would you still let him buy it, or would you try to talk him into getting something else instead?
Or like dad Mikki, do you confound what society says little boys should want, and just roll with it?
There are so many things to admire about this viral video...
The dad who openly vows to love and support his kids no matter what or who they choose to be. The giddy excitement in Isaiah's eyes that comes from knowing he's unconditionally accepted - or OK, because he just got the brand new toy he really wanted.
In this house, we're a total mixed bag.
My six year-old doesn't own a single doll (because he's never expressed interest), yet he'll happily shifts between watching Blaze the Monster Truck and Little Charmers. And frankly I like it that way.
Though I wish children's shows and toys weren't so obviously marketed at one gender or another, the mishmash helps round out my son's interests and who knows, maybe his character, too.
"I let my boys choose their life," explains Mikki, "that’s how momma and I are, we just say whatever. We say yeah."
We at YMC say hell YEAAAAAH!
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More than one teacher friend has told me they spend lots of their own dough on supplies and goodies for the kiddos. I imagined a few odds and sods from the dollar store. But these stark 'before' and 'after' images from B.C. public schools reveal just how much teachers invest of their of accord.
In the lead up to the strike action this week, teachers in the province started removing things they bought with their own pay cheque and the result will cause jaws to drop.
Without the teachers' supplies, the spaces look joyless and barren. In many cases, all that's left is the odd whiteboard and a scattering of desks and chairs, the bare bones of the classroom.
"Teachers spend their own personal money to personalize their classrooms and make their classroom functional, organized, and inviting," says Vancouver teacher Wendy Lau. "With only what the school board provides, the classrooms are very bland and cold."
Obviously some percentage of fundraising by parent advisory committees (PAC) goes toward augmenting classroom supplies.
Still, these images speak for themselves. And it begs the question: where exactly is public school boards funding going because there's certainly no evidence of spending in the classroom.
Lau estimates that some years she spent more than $1,000 on supplies alone, even though her school is located in an affluent neighbourhood. She relies on donations and salvages as many items as she can, with the help of Krazy Glue.
Imagine buying your own office supplies out of your salary... Yeah, didn't think so. So the next time you open your mouth to trash talk a teacher, remember the dedication and generosity evidenced in these photos.
Of course no one forces teachers to shell out their cash to equip and decorate their classrooms, but aren't you happy they do?
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