Letter to an Artist

Dear Artist,
I love the children's Alphabet canvas print that you designed. Each letter has a picture corresponding that is painted in fun vibrant colors and both of my daughters have enjoyed looking at it and studying it as they lay on the changing table.

A is for Apple. B is for Butterfly. C is for Crown. Classic. They are all so cute.

I enjoy the illustrations. Hats off to the artist who made one of the cutest tea kettles and pair of mittens I have ever seen on a canvas print. I even love the purple stripes on the zebra, it really shows the individuality of the zebra in that not all zebras need black stripes.

When my three year old was one, she would sit up on her table and we would practice the letters together. The pictures really helped her grasp the concept. G is for Grapes, N is for pretty necklace, O is for octopus. We would make it all the way to the letter X and then we ran into some difficulties...

You see, it’s the letter X that I have a few issues with. I know there are few words to choose from when it comes to this letter. And I understand your strive to be unique and all. I mean I really expected a painted picture of a xylophone or x-ray, but you delivered something much more unique. Boy, did you ever.

X is for…

Xmas Tree??

I am not sure Xmas is an actual word. Is it?

Now I understand that your artist paints great pine trees. It’s beautiful, it really is. The star on top of the tree is great too, it gives the pine tree that “Xmas” feel.

My issue is just this; How do I explain to my daughters what X is for.
The conversation would go something like this:
X is for Tree! Isn’t it?
Actually, Xmas is a slang word for Christmas that begins with X. So X is for Xmas tree.
Mommy, what does slang mean?
Well slang is a figure of speech. A shortened part of the word…
Mommy, what does figure of speech mean?

This question and answer session would go on and on 'round and 'round getting us, seemingly, nowhere. So, mister (or misses) designer of the canvas print, maybe next time you revise this print you could stick to a word that is typically associated with X. You know, like a multicolored xylophone or an x-ray picture of an elbow.

Thank you kindly. And I hope you and your family have a very merry Xmas season.