"Why would you need a different shaped pencil?" I asked my 5th grade daughter.
"Because, Mom, your hands get tired from writing and they hurt after a while."
I thought about the fact that I never use pencils anymore as an adult. The last time I used pencils was in a college fine arts class that I took as an elective. I enjoyed learning what grade graphite pencils to use for shading and creating depth in sketch drawings. Several hours passed while I happily focused on my artwork. How liberating it was developing new skills. These days I prefer to use gel pens which glide weightlessly across the page. My hand tires easily when attempting to write more than one page which is why I now prefer to type as I write on the computer keyboard. The only writing I physically do now is the daily task or shopping list.
We rounded the aisle and then my daughter made another request.
"Mom, can we buy me a special binder?"
"Why do you need a binder? It's not even on your school supplies list."
My guess was that her brother, who is in high school and had a much longer shopping list, was in the market for a new binder, so she wanted one too.
"Because, Mom, I want to file my papers in there. You know, so I can be organized."
It was unnecessary but she had a good argument. Her school papers always piled up on the kitchen desk and they became my problem.
"Let's make a deal then. If I buy you the binder, you will hole punch your papers as they come in the house and file them in your binder."
"Okay."
She spent the next ten minutes looking for just the right binder. A blue sparkly one with green borders caught her eye. It was four dollars more than the average binder but I figured anything that would help inspire her to keep order was a good thing, so I obliged.
"Mom? Can we buy those plastic page protectors that you used for your writing portfolio? I want to start my own art portfolio."
Ever since that day, whenever she has had free time, she has sketched and colored drawings and inserted them into her special binder.
I found her desire to be comfortable when writing and her need to organize her work inspiring. She took pride in her work and wanted to feel good about it. I thought for a moment about what I might want to do differently so I can also look forward to my tasks with more energy.
Last night I zipped through the halls of our beautiful, new, state-of-the-art Waterford High School. I stopped in at each of my son's classrooms to meet his teachers and hear about their expectations for the year. I felt a great sense of pride knowing that our tax dollars were well spent. Everything about the evening, from the confident and encouraging words of our new Principal Mr. Hauser, to the design and layout of the building, to the newness of the furniture, to the impressiveness of the technology and resources available to our kids, inspired me. I felt the sense of promise that our kids must also be experiencing as they go from class to class. Even the teachers reflected an appreciation for their new tools and a positive outlook on the year.
It made me think back to my school years, when life was a fresh piece of sketching paper, waiting for me to draft some lines and fill in sections. I used an eraser every now and then when I found myself veering in the wrong direction, but I forged on.
We are here to help guide our children as they become who they will discover they want to be. But they are also here to remind us that we can keep using pencils and erasers too, even if we don't have to. I guess that's why we buy ourselves the latest electronic gadgets. There is still much to learn and new skills to develop.
I've been working on my first book for three years now. I'm not done yet. Once I finish the manuscript there will be even more work to do that I have never done before; editing, publishing and then finding a market for it. The unknowns are scary but exciting too. Maybe we are all works of art in progress and it's time to just draw some more lines.
