Life requires a big box of crayons.

While relatively new to blogging on this site, I decide after reading Wild ARS Chase‘s blog to take his challenge. I have to admit I’ve read what some of the other bloggers have written, and I am more than a little bit intimidated. There are some awesome blogs out there. And I also have to admit I want to impress Andy... I think I have crush on him... Let’s face it, we don’t have many metrosexuals where I live in the South so he totally fascinates me... Of course, Capricorn has nothing to worry about because I am a Virgo... & you know what they say about Virgos... yeah... um, what do they say about Virgos? Because I really have no idea, but I hope it is fanciful and exciting... Oh, yeah, and then there is the whole age thing... Andy is even too young for this cougar... (rawr...yawn..) I know it hurts me too, Andy...

Okay, now that I have confessed my unwavering devotion to Andy and then gently let him down from the hope of a future with me, let me get back to the challenge...

Andy requested his readers to write a post about:
A) Something nobody knows about you, or
B) One of your favorite stories from your childhood, or
C) Your 10 Top Favorite (Fill in the Blank)

Oh, what to do... what TO do...

Heck let’s go with option B

I always liked fitting in with the other kids at school. I remember it started with the first grade. If one girl had a certain hair bow, then by all means I wanted one too. I remember that one little girl had the largest box of crayons that I had ever seen. It even had a crayon sharpener in the back of the box. Oh, how I envied that little girl... It made my box of 8 crayons look like a matchbox in a crate store. My mom heard for days about how I just had to have the box of 64 crayons. I was sure my social, along with intellectual, status at table number one depended on it. I never got that big gigantic box of crayons.... What was my fate to be in this world of crayon elitists? Would I ever be accepted by the others of table number one?

Weeks later, our teacher wanted to test our knowledge of math. We had been learning to add together single digit numbers. Now the teacher wanted to see how we did at subtraction of single digit numbers. We had never seen anything that was like on this sheet she handed us. Where was our beloved plus sign???? The teacher told us to try to figure out how to work it on our own. What??? She said, "If you need to, guess at the answer. I just want to see what you know. We will go over the answers later." Guess??? Is that allowed??? I looked around the table at the other kids... They looked back at me with confusion in their eyes.. Except for one girl... Samantha...

Samantha said, "Hey, I know how to do this. I’ll help you out. I have done this before." Then she proceed to help us out..... by telling us what to put down on our papers. I was so glad I was back in the fold since that disastrous crayon debacle. I was accepted... I was one of the masters of subtraction.... thanks to Samantha having done this before. Ahhh.... this almost made up for the on the wrong side of the crayon colored tracks.

The next day our teacher handed us back our papers. All of ours at table number one had a big "U" on them. Though I didn’t know what it meant at the time, I knew that couldn’t be a good thing. The teacher called all of our table to her desk at the front of the room. She said, " I gave you all an "U" for unsatisfactory on your papers. I told you to try to do the subtraction sheet. I did not tell you to copy off each others papers and cheat." What cheat???? What is that??? She continued saying, " You each will be getting a paddling for cheating. You should never use someone else’s answers.!" A paddling???? As like a whipping on my ever so tender bottom with that large piece of wood? Oh, I could fill the water works beginning... But I’m a good girl, I thought. Did this mean I was destined to wear the Scarlet "C" for cheater on my chest. My inner voice screamed, "But I don’t have the color scarlet in my crayon box! I only have red... No fancy color of scarlet!!! I can not do scarlet!!"

After the teacher gave me my paddling, I tearfully looked at her and whined, "but Samantha said she could help us with this. She said she knew how to do it because she done it before..."
The teacher looked at me with a sympathetic smile, " Well, Liz, Samantha has done it before. This is her second time in the first grade. She failed last year. I hope you learned your lesson."
As I did my walk of shame back to that blasted table number one, watching Samantha giggle about getting into trouble, I made a solemn vow to myself...I would never, ever name any my pets or beloved stuffed animals Samantha... and if I ever have a daughter, not only will her name not be Samantha, but I will always keep her supplied with a box of 64 crayons. Because at that moment in my heart... I knew this subtraction tragedy wouldn’t have happened if only I had a big box of crayons!!!!

Well, there you have it. The workings of my 6 year old brain. I must say my brain still rationalizes things like that...