A New Box of Crayons - A Lesson in Letting Go and Letting God

At the beginning of my kindergarten school year, the teacher handed out boxes of crayons. Old boxes were issued to my morning class while new boxes were given to the afternoon class. Because the supply of old boxes was about five students short, a handful of morning students was given new boxes. I was one such lucky child. After writing our names on the boxes, the crayons were stacked in the cupboards lining one side of the classroom.

One day at drawing time, my box was nowhere to be found. Kneeling on the floor, I continued to dig around in the cupboard long after the other students had returned to their seats to begin the assigned task. My teacher was nice at first, helping me to search for the box with my name on it; nice, that is, until she noticed me looking through the boxes of new crayons.

"No point in looking at those," she said a bit too sharply for the sensitive child that I was. "Your box will be one of the older ones like the rest of the morning class." Authority had always made me nervous. My voice quivered as I explained that I'd been given a new box. I continued to look at the new boxes through watery eyes.

"Stop it! Look for your name on the old boxes." Every face in the room turned toward us. Some faces look worried, some were slightly distorted by attempts to suppress nervous giggling.
Okay, here I was at a crossroads. Do I walk the path of authority and look at the old Box of Crayons for my name knowing it wouldn't be there or do I continue on the path I knew to be true and look at only the new boxes? Hey, I was only six. I would undoubtedly walk the path of authority, which, in this case, was my teacher. Reluctantly, I pretended to look for my name on old boxes of crayons. It all seemed hopeless. Tears rolled down my face.

That's when I heard a wee, small voice. "Let go and let God," it said.
So I did. I sat back and totally relaxed. I waited for God to help me. My tears dried up and my sense of well-being returned.

I have no recollection of this teacher, of her face, her build, her age. But how well I remember her hand with its stubby fingers as it accidentally knocked a new box of crayons on the floor, a box with my name on it. With a slight vocalization that bore no resemblance to an apology, she pushed the box into my hands, stood up, and returned to the front of the room.

This was a lesson that repeated itself many times in the decades that followed, sometimes in big ways and sometimes in small ways: Do what you can under the circumstances but then let go and let God. The most seemingly impossible of conditions, no matter how big or small, have a way of righting themselves for the good of the whole when you give it all over to the One who can when you can't.
Now someone out there is bound to say, "Yes, but, when I gave it over to God, my dog still died." The results of letting go and letting God are not always to our liking. That's where trust and looking for the bigger picture come into play.

Bottom line? Live life with God at your back, or not. Your life, your choice.

Kleenex Tissue Pocket 3 ply Tissues

The tissues are like table napkins. They have a rough border of almost an inch and the texture is more like something you'd use to wipe your hands. From the packaging, they seem to be mad either for or in Poland but if you are in the U.S. they are not what you expect. They're a bit too rough for a nose with a cold or allergy.

I thought these simply had different packaging than the Kleenex pocket tissues I find at the grocery store or drugstore. I was wrong. These are stiffer. Makes for a rude awakening in cold season. Better than being without Kleenex altogether, but not by much.

I'm a tissue snob. Only use name brands, most often Kleenex, because I like quality and softness. These are rough, tough and scratchy and almost look like small napkins. Ugh. I'm giving them to my brother because he drives a school bus and at least it's better than a sleeve. Marginally better.

I got a bunch of these for my family, especially since we were all getting stuffy/runny noses and coughs. They are great and so easy to carry since you can throw them into a bag, clutch/purse or your jacket pocket. The tissue is sturdier than some others I've tried and the bright packaging makes it easy to spot in a large bag.

These Kleenex Tissue Pocket 3 ply Tissues are impossible to find in our stores out here. There are cheaper packs in the stores but their wrappers don't hold up like the Kleenex brand does. The Kleenex tissues seem to be slightly thicker than the copies found in the stores, as well. I'm glad I could find them here. They arrived a day early, too. Thank you, Amazon.com!

Art Smocks For Children

An Art Smock is a fantastic way to allow kids more freedom when they are being creative. You certainly don't want to squash their creative instincts by fretting over whether they are going to get a little bit of creativity on their clothing. Whether painting, clay modeling, or using markers, you can help keep their creativity on the art project with an art smock.
In order to ensure a good fit, don't go for the child sized plastic versions that come in paint sets. They usually don't lay flat and they often aren't large enough to cover the area. While an old shirt of yours might seem like the perfect art smock, often this backfires as the sleeves and wildly oversized fabric runs amuck.

Using an art smock that is appropriately sized but reasonably tight can be tricky unless you buy one made for serious coverage for a child. You can use adult smocks on children provided that the material doesn't stray too far from their body and they won't trip on it. Nothing says mess like falling into your creativity.

Make the art smock fun for them. Dress it up or add artistic designs to personalize it just for them. This will not only encourage them to use it, but it will also encourage them to be proud of it and feel just like a real artist.

Children love to paint and create and giving them ample space to do that is healthy for their needs. Adding an art area that has floor coverage can be helpful to containing messes. You don't want the floor covered with creative footprints.

Washable products are a near must and of course, your art smock project will be a big hit when they realize that they can stay neat and clean to adult standards while having lots of great fun.

Reinforced Filler Paper College 17102

I am a grad student in engineering so I take a lot of notes including math and things that don't alway fit in the lines. This paper is great for all uses. The lines aren't too dark and it scans well. I honestly do not care about the reinforcement aspect as much as the fact that it is pretty heavy weight paper, at least for filler paper.

Every note I take (both sided if it matters) I put through a feed scanner at the end of the week and this always hold up well.

Reinforced Filler Paper College 17102 can be a bit expensive, especially compared to plain white paper, but you can find it at good (enough) prices and if you write on both sides, 100 sheets lasts a while.

My only real complaint is that I wish the reinforcement strip didn't say "Five Star" everywhere. It should just be clear! That is why I docked it a star (Ironically, I therefore rate "five Star" paper as only four stars)

I don't know what the deal is with teenage boys, but binders look like war zones with crumpled, half torn and tattered pages. This is the answer!!! The reinforcement is like plastic tape along the edge, through which the holes are punched. Genius!!! And there are 100 sheets, not 75 as the reviewer below mistakenly reports. The wide ruled has 110 sheets. Both qualify as 75 points in the Mead promotion.

Paper quality and reinforcement is great... however, not all of the holes are punched all the way through. Some you can poke and the paper pops out but others you have to re-punch and my hole punch doesn't line up properly. Really slows you down when you're trying to fill binders quickly. If they fix this slight glitch it would be a five star rating... I would have returned the item but at this point I'm in a time crunch.

Avery Nonstick Heavy Duty Reference 79693

In my yellow one, I keep my binder full of under-age chinese sweatshop workers. As more and more of my corporate interests move over there, you have NO idea how handy it makes it for me to get a competitive edge by having this binder at my fingertips.

In my brown one I am able to keep my binder full of illegal immigrants so that when one of my properties needs yard work done - boom! There's my answer.

When it arrived the women immediately scattered. They ran everywhere, it took me hours to catch them all. They beat me so badly I had to go to the hospital. I suspect women do not like being in binders because they were quite adamant to escape. Some of them can really fight. Instead of opening up a can of worms, I totally opened a binder of women, just like Mittens.

This Avery Nonstick Heavy Duty Reference 79693 is used in a small business where it takes lots of abuse. The women employed by our small hedge fund are quite unruly, and I'm used to our binders splitting and cracking, but this one is holding all of these women quite well. I like the non-stick feature, as it keeps the women from grouping together, and allows me to single them out for individual handling. Many of my other binders have been ruined by makeup transferring to the plastic liner, but this binder has been proven effective against the majority of feminine products on the market.

Using a binder of this quality beats having to replace the cheap ones regularly, which allows me to send the binder buying women home in time to make dinner for their husbands. This is easy to open and an all-around good binder full of women.

Sharpie Water Based Medium Markers Colored

I have recently began coloring as a stress reliever and to keep my hands busy. (Nervous nail biting habit otherwise) I found Sharpie Water Based Medium Markers Colored at Michael's for 20, but then of course researched here and found them for less. I have posted a few pictures, hopefully to help interested buyers get an idea of the colors included. There is an excellent variety in this set. The markers so far have proven bold and well inked. Highly recommend cardstock or better. :)

My only complaint would be the packaging, but I am the kind of person who is willing to put in a little effort to customize my 'setup.' The markers come in a little plastic caddy that is somewhat flimsy. I have not had a problem with it falling apart or anything like that; it just sometimes tilts to one side and makes sliding the marker back into the two slots a little difficult. (When shifted, the bottom holes so not align with the top.)

Again, with regards to the packaging, the markers are not labeled by color, but rather by number. The set I purchased, the #s are gold and on a white background. This makes them a bit difficult to see. If you want your colors in a prismatic order, and are willing to invest a little time, You can label the lids by #, as I did, and make a corresponding chart. A little overboard I know, but I try to color symmetrically and so want the colors to 'flow'.

The #s that are listed on the markers correspond to a tiny, barely legible chart on the front of the plastic box it comes in. The colors shown are not at all true to the actual markers; they are shown against a black background and are very dark and dull. I have barely looked at the names, making a color chart made it irrelevant.

Still, aside from the original effort in organizing the markers, and a warning to move the caddy with a little care, I do recommend these markers as a really good deal with a decent variety and quality for the price.

The Evolution of a Young Entrepreneur

Do you know how long you have been an entrepreneur? Do you think of a young girl with a small pink purse as an entrepreneur? I was that little bright-eyed girl with a small pink purse and did not realize I was an entrepreneur. However, I liked to make money. Who does not want to make money? As an entrepreneur, I began at a young age and continued to evolve.

In fourth and fifth grade, I carried a petite pink purse full of an assortment of pencil erasers. Yes. My mom and teacher knew that I was carrying these erasers, and they were not upset. Because I sold my erasers, my mom told me she was no longer going to purchase them. My teacher told me I just could not sell them during lesson time. I had to sell the erasers before school, during morning and afternoon break or after school.

I bought pencil erasers in bulk for around $.05 each. Then, I would resell the pencil erasers for $.10. Because my erasers were cheaper and fancier, students purchased erasers from me before they would buy them from the school cart. When the eraser was the same price at $.10, they bought from me because I had an array of colors and designs. The school sold the small dark pink erasers for $.10 and Large Pink Eraser for $.15. Therefore, students wanted my erasers. I suppose you could say I knew a little about customer satisfaction because I would give a student another eraser if his/her eraser broke. However, none of them ever complained about not liking the eraser. Moreover, my prices never went up. Okay. I know I was not going to get rich, but I ran this business for two years until I entered Middle School.

When I entered seventh grade, I liked bubble gum and bought a variety pack. When a classmate saw the gum in my book bag, I sold the first piece of bubble gum. That day, I began my gum business. My mom bought the first pack, and I bought the rest. My mom and teachers knew I sold gum, but they told me not to chew or sell it during class. Therefore, the gum was never banned.

I bought a four pack of variety gum for around $1.50. Then, I would resell a single piece of gum for $.25. However, I noticed students began to buy the whole pack, so I gave a bargain to these students. Because each pack of gum contained five pieces, I could have sold the whole pack for $1. I gave them a bargain and sold the pack for $1.00. Moreover, I liked to chew gum, earned money from gum sales and reinvested the money on different flavors of bubble gum until I reached high school.

In high school, my intention was not to begin another business adventure. Nonetheless, it happened anyway. One day, I brought extra pencils to class. Then, it happened. I was introduced to "Pencil Wars". If you have seen boys and girls try to break pencils by flipping them with another pencil, you have witnessed "Pencil Wars."

I carried a pack of pencils in my book bag for personal use. One day, a student asked me if he could buy the whole pack. I sold the pack, but I added $.05 to each pencil. I bought another pack, and it sold quickly. The same group of students played "Pencil Wars", but I sold my pencils to any student that needed an extra one.

At a young age, I believe children can be entrepreneurs. I evolved from selling erasers to owning a construction company. Moreover, I will continue to evolve and strive to become a more successful entrepreneur. Nevertheless, I will always remember that little girl with a small pink purse.