Back in my college days, my roommates used to know how to really “get” me. You see, we would play practical jokes on each other and each of us would take the next gag to the next level. Anyhow, back then, I was the picture of organization. I had separate binders for each class, neatly organized on my custom made bookshelf that sat upon my desk. I had a mug for pencils, a mug for pens, my calendar neatly held my life together and it was always color coded. But the thing that they thought was hilarious was in my top drawer I kept my scented markers in rainbow order. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet – or ROYGIBIV. Doesn’t everyone do this? I guess not! Anyhow, when they really wanted to mess with me, they would open up that top drawer and mix up a few colors. I’d always notice, of course! And that was the fun of it.
Fast forward nearly 20 years and I’ve lightened up a bit – but I’m still a closet perfectionist (and my closets are the only things I like to keep organized!) I like to say I’m a laid back perfectionist or a recovering perfectionist… but that same former roommate and I still get together and lately the boyz have been asking us to tell them stories about our college days. Well, this one came up and they all got a kick out of it. Funny the things we remember about people that stay the same over the years!
Well, then a few weeks later, Carter was doing his homework using his crayons in his 96 count crayon box – the one with the built in pencil sharpener in the back. I bought this one for him because I always coveted this one as a kid. We had one like this that we kept at my Grandmother’s house that we would use for coloring over there. We always took really good care of it, but I don’t really recall having my own large box at home. So it’s just a small way I indulge him (and me!) So as he’s in the middle of coloring his homework, somehow the box tips over and all 96 crayons spill out everywhere! On the countertop, all over the floor… it was 96 crayon pick up! Except it wasn’t really greeted as a game but instead met with a few tears.
So in a moment of motherhood wisdom I turned lemons into lemonade by explaining that this was an opportunity to RE-ORGANIZE his crayon box! Wouldn’t it be nicer to have all the colors together in varying shades of rainbow order?? He saw the light and wiped his tears and was soon shuffling the reds from the pinks from the greens. Once finished, it was a masterpiece of organization. And I know I was finally able to take a deep breath that the crayons were at last finally in the right place.
A few days later, Carter said to me, “Mom, I really like having my crayons this way! It’s so much easier to find the colors instead of looking all around for them!” Ah-ha! A ROYGIBIV convert in the making!