The Post It Queen

I love school supplies. I love the smell of new crayons in a box, the look of crisp,white notebook paper, and the touch of an unused Pink Pearl eraser. Shoppers wait in line for the Doorbuster sales the day after Thanksgiving. Others mark the date on the calendar when a store has their half-yearly sale. Not me. I wait longingly for the school supplies to arrive in stores in August. It takes me back to Septembers, school supply lists, and Sunnyside School in Kellogg, Idaho.

When I grew up I didn't have to leave my school supplies behind. I became a teacher and now surround myself with those treasures. I have baskets for rulers, erasers, scissors, crayons, and pens. I can't live without my Post It notes (aka sticky notes). My desk is littered with rows of them to "help me remember" stuff. My middle school students will request something during a lesson and I will just pause long enough to say, "Put it on a sticky note." I gather quite a collection. "Do you have change for a five?", "How about those Zags?", or "You have a streak of overhead marker down your nose. I thought you would like to know!"

My own notes get crazy. I find brightly colored squares with letters that make no sense. I also start a note, but don't finish so I am still back to not knowing what I was supposed to remember. Other notes are found under my desk with something I "had to do" January 10th. We find them stuck on books, folders, and even on somebody's backside! To add to the craziness we often find ones that I have dropped between my classroom and the other building. The office staff usually knows to put those in my mailbox. Borrowing a sticky note from me is like ordering a coffee drink at Starbucks. Today a student asked for a note and I gave my usual response. " Lined or unlined, small or large, sticky or super sticky, pastel or bright color?" The student just smiled and said,"Whatever!"

I have been crowned The Post It Queen. I could give you the royal tour of an office supply store aisle just for sticky notes. I could reign over the colors, kinds, and sizes. It is mind boggling.

As we gather around the table at home we use the same system for remembering. Some of the same pitfalls occur. The dog chews up the bright purple note so all I can read is the smeared IMPORTANT. I get in a hurry with directions for dinner. Instead of asking my husband to put the corned beef in a pot I wrote "in pop." He didn't know whether to marinade it in Pepsi or Diet Sprite! I must end this post. I just unearthed a sticky note under the computer reminding me to do a writing sample for a lesson tomorrow. Whew! I am glad the night is still young.