Crayons for the best, and worst, of times
Years of crayons eventually were tossed together in a golden square tin. It was shelved 45 years ago when the kids were through with it, and had a 10-year resurgence for the grandkids. But it’s been unopened on a shelf for most of the last 10; it would be impossible for us to just toss that treasure into the trash.
At first this topic seemed too fluffy to write about, let alone devote a whole column to. But in the current COVID environment without school, restricted destinations, joblessness, frustrations, and copious time at home, crayons may be just what we need. We even have a coloring contest in Dayton now — in the Life section of this newspaper, on Monday mornings.
Unfortunately, our current distraction caused us to miss National Crayon Day, March 31st. But that’s OK.
Even before this COVID timeout, before this spring and summer that weren’t, adults had begun to rediscover the joys of coloring. I even found several coloring books suitable for adults at a dollar store, and gave them to my daughter while hospitalized.
As with many of us, crayons were a part of my growing up before TV, so we made sure our kids had plenty. Crayons are special on many levels: They’re fun, educational, creative, therapeutic and relaxing, solo or in concert.
Many parents (and grandparents, and babysitters) believe that giving the children some paper or coloring books and some crayons is a great way to occupy them, to keep them quiet. But it might be mutually better to sit down with them and interact. Instead of just looking at a picture book, a child can actually create the object as he or she sees it with a few short scribbles ... often too deep for our understanding.
I started out by putting a small box of Crayola crayons in daughter’s Christmas stocking. (Not to get commercial, but cheap substitutes are actually frustrating. Crayola, a portmanteau word derived from words meaning “chalkwax,” has had more than 200 colors — currently 120.)
Years of crayons eventually were tossed together in a golden square tin. It was shelved 45 years ago when the kids were through with it, and had a 10-year resurgence for the grandkids. But it’s been unopened on a shelf for most of the last 10; it would be impossible for us to just toss that treasure into the trash.
Actually, the extended family saw it last Christmas and one young man said the fragrance took him back to childhood. It’ll do that. And during this COVID non-Easter I boiled a dozen eggs and, instead of making the usual dyes just for myself and such few eggs, I got out the crayons. For a while I was young again. Next year I think we’ll have a coloring session.
To stay or not to stay within the lines. Yes, the new books for adults and the old books for the kids have objects and patterns. But that’s just a suggestion, not a mandate. Maybe artistic freedom isn’t in the Constitution, but it should be. It’s part of the pursuit of happiness, or Maslow’s self-actualization, or Zen or something. Who among us has not joyfully created rainbows, houses with smoke curling up to a dandelion sun, racing cars and airplanes, and (according to our desires) horses or dinosaurs or dragons or unicorns?
Let’s just do it; within the lines or outside the box . ... I guarantee we’ll feel better — even nowadays.